OTP Challenge Shopping Aela drags Anna to go get actual underwear that isn't a fabric only bra and actually has her fitted correctly after bribing her with dinner and clothes shopping.
P.S. It's my 21st birthday today! Have a fic :)
Always have I absolutely loathed these kinds of excursions, and yet I still find myself dragged along for another one. In part, I must admit, it is of my own doing. Earlier in the day I had asked Aela for an opinion on something while getting dressed, as it has been after all historically difficult for me to find things that fit well, and upon finding out that I do not own a single properly fitted bra instead opting for fabric only ones that have a range of sizes that they can fit, or undershirts, demanded that she take me shopping...and so here I am, being dragged along. “I can’t believe you have never been fitted for a bra before by the divines Anna you’re twenty five get your shit together honestly.” Aela remarks as she walks with me, or more accurately takes me by the hand and leads me along to keep me from running away. I give her a look “You’re the same age as me and don’t have your shit together either!” Aela puts up a finger “But I at least have underwear that doesn’t dig into my ribs when I wear it.” And that is exactly why half the time I just don’t wear a bra in the first place, it’s not like it makes a difference. There’s no ill intention in her remarks, I know that, nor do I have any in my replies, and we both agree that when it comes to having our shit together...We both are doing better than Vilkas by a longshot. “But I don’t wanna go. I have no tits anyways this is bullshit!” I whine “I’ll buy you dinner afterwards and we can go dress shopping if you wan’t.” At the bribe I agree and stop my whining, for the time being. “Deal…” I mutter.
“How do you even figure out your bra size?” Aela shrugs “Numbers, then they correlate to a letter.” She stops, turns and looks me up and down and says matter of factly “You’re an A cup, but could probably fit in a AA or a B too, depending on the band size.” My mouth practically drops open as I look at her with a confused and awestruck expression “How do you know that?!” I whisper, mostly to myself and get a nonchalant reply of “Easy, I’m the bra whisperer. Once I had a saleswoman look at me and know my exact size and I can do the same thing. Now let's go.” We continue walking.
The walk isn’t that far in the scheme of things, but if feels like it takes an eternity, the time is passed through conversation about a variety of things including but not limited to; Where to go for dinner, the many confusing different kinds of underwear there are that I never knew existed, how fittings work, what kind of underwear and dresses I might like, how it’s always a good idea to go shopping with your lesbian friend who totally isn’t a sometimes friend with benefits because cuddles and opinions are good, and the location of the nearest clothing store.
Once we get to the store I am filled with a sense of disgust again, almost a pit in my stomach. It’s uncomfortable and I don’t like it, so I decided to retry my effort at escaping. Unfortunately trying to escape from a nordic shield-maiden who is the best archer I’ve ever met with a very quick reaction time goes about as well as you would expect, even after she had let go of my hand while we were walking. As I turn to run off, Aela grabs the collar of my dress. “Oh no you don’t we’re already here, I know you don’t like it but I’ll make it as painless as possible.” Lightening her grip a bit her voice changes a little “It’s not so bad, I’ll make it up to you after, alright?” With a frown and drooping shoulders I eventually agree, and cheer up a bit after Aela reminds me what exactly we can do once we are done, and that she will not let any obnoxious sales people remotely near me, she can handle things herself. Part of the reason I never liked these kinds of stores aside from I simply have no need for lingerie, no matter if it's only for support for people who have back pain, the lacey kind for use in the bedroom, or any kind with any other function. However the discomfort is also in part due to my own insecurity. To put it simply my body is...odd. It looks perhaps unusual to some people, the tissue and pigmentation is altered in some places, anetoderma, it’s called. Otherwise, my ribcage and general torso is sturdier than most women my size, it doesn’t taper in the same way, thus making finding the combination of a well fitting bra that fits both my small chest size with the more squarish shape of my torso for the band size difficult. As a result, I have a tendency to favor a camisole, or nothing at all, usually only wearing a bra if I feel like it or need it to keep things from showing through a thinner or form-fitting shirt.
Having crossed the threshold and stepped inside I feel the nausea only getting worse and when Aela isn’t looking for a moment try to creep off toward the garments used primarily for physical activity and other strenuous exercises, they’re familiar at the very least. They’re close to the undershirts too, another familiar and comforting object in a sea of lace and underwire. Aela finds me browsing and sneaks up behind me, poking me in the ribs playfully “We didn’t come all the way here just to look at shirts, silly. And before you get mad at me, don’t worry, I think I found some things you might like and they don’t have any sort of wire.” Allowing her to take my hand I let her lead me away from that section to another area, closer to the dressing rooms.
The other section is unfamiliar, but not as anxiety inducing as others. “You’d probably be a 34 A if I had to guess, so we’ll try that. And if we can’t figure it out someone can measure you, or I could always steal a tape measure and do it myself if you’d rather do that.” Aela rests against a rack and gestures to a part of it “This will be your size, take a look.” Looking through it takes a minute to process everything. Some have more lace than others, some are mostly fabric with removable cups slipped inside to give it some shape, and others look more like a stereotypical bra but missing the underwire so they have some shaping but much less than those made for larger sizes. While I browse, Aela looks further down the rack for herself in the C range. Eventually I settle on 3 for now, each one a bit of a different style and tap Aela on the shoulder, awkwardly holding up what I found. There’s a white one with some lace detail that has a tiny bit of shaping, a black one that is similar to the previous one but without the lace and has a clasp at the back instead of being slipped over the head, the last one is a dark red color with removable cups. Aela’s eyes practically light up as I show her what I’ve found. “Nice choices, go try them on, I’ll sit outside in the meantime.” Heading around the corner with Aela in tow I find an open room and shut the door, Aela sits on a bench waiting while I try things on.
Slipping my dress off and folding it I place it on the bench in the room and try on what I’d found one by one. Once I’ve tried the first one I poke my head out and get Aela’s attention “Can you see how it looks?” She gets up and comes into the dressing room, closing the door behind her for privacy. “It looks good on you, though since it's a little longer you might want to go up a band size so it doesn’t roll up. I have that problem sometimes, try moving around. Does it feel overall comfortable?” I move around, bend down, and she’s right, it does roll a bit. That is the unfortunate problem in my case, I guess I’ll have to try another size. “Overall it’s comfortable, but I see what you mean.” I reply. Aela turns around while I change into the next one and let her know when she can look again. “You should wear more black…” Is her initial reaction which makes me laugh a bit. Black makes everyone look good. “This is mostly what I was talking about when I dragged you here, still mostly fabric, but has a bit more support, and is actually fitted right. How does this one feel?” The clasp will take some getting used to from an operational standpoint unless I can find a similar style that lacks that feature, but the garment itself is as comfortable as I would expect it to be. If anything it’s nice to see something that doesn’t have one side fit perfectly with the other sort of lopsided. On to the last one, I like the red, but then again, it is my color. Since this one has removable inserts I try it with and without them. “I never thought I’d say this...I think I like it better with them in…” I remark, looking in the mirror. Aela shrugs with a bit of a grin on her face “The glory of options, am I right?” After that she takes the white one that I’d tried on first and goes to get a slightly larger size, also returning with a beige version of the red one, she also finds a version of the black one without the clasp. The larger band size is more comfortable when moving around for the white one. “Can we look at what else they have?” I ask, putting my dress back on “I thought you’d never ask.” Aela replies “We can go see what they got and while you look around I’m going to try my own stuff on.” That sounds like a good plan.
There is a large selection when it comes to other underwear, some are more appealing than others...And some just look like a way to ask for a UTI honestly. “Do people really wear these things?” I question, looking through some pieces that seem more like they’d be better suited as a slingshot than a form of covering. “Yep. Why? I don’t have an answer to that.” Aela replies. That’s...fair, I guess. Much to my luck, I find the matching pieces to the things I had found earlier, and unlike other things they actually have a function. The white piece doesn’t have any lace except for a small bit on the band around the top, which is good, otherwise it would be annoying and difficult to wash.
While busy looking around at the absurd amount of options and pondering the previous UTI related question in my own head, Aela silently sneaks off to try on her own things, and I’m abruptly drawn out my thoughts with a startle by a voice. “Excuse me, miss?” Slightly shocked and a bit embarrassed I look to my right to see a saleswoman, an older lady, looking at me with a sweet smile on her face. Stupidly smiling briefly I drop whatever it was I had been holding back into its pile and attempt to regain my composure, clearing my throat and standing up straight. “Yes?” I say hesitantly. “Oh I was just wondering if you needed any help, you’ve been standing here looking at things for a few minutes after your redheaded companion went to the dressing rooms herself.” The old woman explains. Biting my lip slightly I look anywhere I can except for her face “Um, no thank you. I think I’m alright for now, I’ll let you know if I need anything.” I reply and the woman walks off to help other customers, leaving me to continue to look. I find a few things in my size that I like and having done that go to find Aela who to my luck had just finished getting dressed. “Oh great I was just coming to find you. Seems like you found some things? Oblivion didn’t break open while I was gone right?” I put what I had found in the basket she had picked up along the way that holds our things “No a second Oblivion Crisis didn’t happen but a very awkward encounter with a saleswoman that resulted in me looking like an idiot did. Can we go now?” Aela reassures me that I didn’t look like an idiot, though I beg to differ, and that yes, we can go now. Things total up to be less than I expected they would have, and once everything is paid for I am overly relieved to be out in the fresh air again. Next stop: dress shopping.
Thankfully in the same general area there is a dress shop and tailor. “I should wear dresses more often.” Aela muses to herself as we walk inside. “Yes, you should.” I reply and now it's my turn to drag her away from things, like tank tops. “You just said you should wear more dresses, come on they’re over here.” I say dragging Aela toward the dress section “I was just looking!” Aela protests, though playfully and goes entirely by choice in my direction. Spring weather is beginning to be more consistent which means less long sleeves and more short sleeves and sundresses. “I know you have to go to some important party at some point soon and your typical red dress isn’t going to cut it my friend.” Aela says pointedly, holding up a sleeveless black velvet dress. Hmm, I must admit I do like it. To emphasize her point she moves it around on the hanger. We have a good time, looking around for things that fit our respective styles. Aela prefers things that are comfortable yet also is fine with showing a bit of skin, after all her armor itself while protective is not the most covering. I personally prefer longer dresses most of the year, spring and summer though is an exception where I’ll trade floor length dresses for knee length ones. In the end I find a red sleeveless knee length dress that can be worn on top of a short sleeve shirt, a dark yellow sundress, and a navy blue and white loose dress that fits much like a very long short sleeve shirt along with the black dress. Aela finds a grey dress similar to the navy blue and white one I had found, a shorter brown dress that laces up in the front, and a black dress for more formal events. The staff here are much more the type I prefer, the ones that let the customer do what it is they are doing and will only intervene if asked or someone very obviously needs help.
By now it’s early evening and since we had skipped lunch we have both gotten a bit hungry. “Last part of your promised deal now?” I ask as we walk along and Aela nods in reply. “Dinner, got anywhere specific you want to go?” There isn’t much around to be honest, even in a city such as this, but perhaps I’m being unfair by going by the High Rock standard. We eventually agree to just go to the local inn. Saadia, the nice waitress, seats us at the bar where we chat with the innkeeper. It's a good spot as not only is it quieter due to your back being turned to the rest of the room, but it also keeps the annoying bard away due to the proximity to the owner. The menu is rather typical of the country, bland and a bit boring, so I opt for what I usually get, tomato soup is hard to mess up and has more seasoning than most things available. Aela takes a note from my book and orders the same thing. Whoever made it today did a good job of it, my money is on Saadia, as Redguards are known for having excellent food. In Daggerfall you can find many restaurants that serve their cuisine due to Hammerfell being right across the Iliac bay. Once dinner is done we say goodnight to the innkeeper and head for home.
“Where did you two go?” the twins ask, both sitting in a corner surrounded by a pile of books and papers. “Shopping.” I reply, holding up a bag. “I made Anna get actually fitted for a bra because the person in this friend group who has their shit together the most deserves at the very least that.” Aela adds with a smirk, which in reply gets a blank look from Farkas and a brief confused look from Vilkas who quickly goes back to his reading. After a few more minutes of off-topic conversation about what the twins had been up to while we were gone, Aela and I turn to head downstairs only to hear the sound of feet running the stairs and Ria’s head abruptly pops up from in between the railing.
“You went shopping…without me?!”
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