Small World After All

"My Padawan Leaner. Friction Gal. Likes to dress up a lot. Think she's a part-time singer too. Cosplay Singer Wrassler." Clyde would tell Taylor while he smoothed out his clothes before Taylor got on his ass about getting the full attire on. He pouted out his lip and gave her a stare when she told him not to think about dropping his pants out there. He had more sense that! Sober anyway.

Still, Clyde took the slacks and marched towards the back to head into the dressing rooms to complete the change into the brown suit that Taylor had given him, telling him to talk to the lady about his dress shirt size. "Thought I said 38 Medium!" Clyde restated from the room while getting the slacks on, making sure to tuck in the tail of his shirt yet again.

"Yeah, the Zipper's stuck." Clyde wold respond to Taylor's words to tease her back before he opened the dressing room stall and talked out in front, still wearing white sox so that was the only thing that didn't go with the suit, but now Clyde had a large majority of the look completed. Attire wise.

"How's this?"

Taylor looked Clyde up and down while holding out the tie to him. "Can you, like... do you know how to tie a tie?" She asked. She'd just assumed that that was something guys could magically do.

She nodded absently. "Man..." She said. "I hope you brought your wallet, I think this is the one." She began poking around in the coat and reaching around behind him until she found a tag. She read it and her eyes lit up.

"What's that like in dollars?" She asked, and looked at the saleswoman, who informed her that price was just the jacket. The pants and shirt and tie and socks and pocket square were separate. Taylor went off with the woman while she rang up a total at Taylor's insistence. Soon, Taylor burst out laughing.

"Hey, what's two hundred-some Yen in American dollars?" Taylor asked Clyde with a grin. "How much do you dig this girl, man?"

Clyde's eyes widened a bit when Taylor asked if he knew how to Tie a Tie. A Necktie. He gave off a small, bitter frown that contained mild embarrassment at the fact he was twenty-something year-old Man and didn't know how to tie a necktie. Granted he hadn't worn a suit since he was about 15 when he stopped attending Mass with Momma and Bonnie on Sunday mornings.

"I ain't worried 'bout no bill." Clyde affirmed Taylor with stern confidence that falter when Taylor's eyes lit up after reading the tag behind him. Then he got worried. He then waited anxiously to see what the price was as Taylor and the saleswoman talked until Clyde finally got an answer of sorts.

"Two hundred yen? Well that ain't much at all................Unless you mean Two-Hundred THOUSAND. 'Cause that would be a lot." Clyde wasn't the best at converting USD to Yen but having been the co-head of the financials for a house of 3 for six months, Clyde picked up on a few things regarding money here.

He raised an eyebrow at Taylor's next couple of words though. It was a question that got Clyde thinking. "...Enough to do this without worryin' 'bout the cash. Sure as hell wouldn't do it for just any girl." Best thing he felt he could say. He was still trying to figure out his deal with Mercy after all. "But maybe I'll get a better idea soon enough." Mercy was kind of odd after all.

"Wait, what did I say?" She giggled. Did she forget the thousand part? "Two hundred fourteen thousand six hundred and twelve yenses!" She announced to the whole room. "Will you be putting this on your player's club card, sir?" She teased with mock-sophistication.

"Welllllll, look at you." She said, playfully animated and drawing glances from people nearby. She wasn't so used to being quiet in public, at least not when she was in a loud mood. "Look at the high rollllaa, Clyde the playaaa! Well I know you wouldn't shell out that much for sex, you can get that way cheaper, especially here. Guess you're just buying the cow so you don't have to, like, keep buying milk and stuff. Do you even have a quarter million Yen laying around, Mr I'm-In-Debt-Up-To-My-Eyeballs?"

She skipped around a clothing rack, humming to herself, and then stopped abruptly. "Oh." She said, looking at the untied tie. "Well, someone's gotta be able to tie it. Lookin' at you, Hot Lips!" She said to the saleswoman and struck a pose pointing with both hands at her. She held the pose and let the awkward moment hang in the air while the woman struggled to think of a way to respond.

Clyde let out a lengthy whistle in reaction to the grand total of the suit that made his eyes widen a bit as well. He wasn't too worried but hearing that number did kill him inside for a brief moment. All this for some clothes!? Never again would he do this.

"Think I'll be puttin' it on my 'broke as hell' card" Clyde added jokingly. He wasn't completely broke. Not yet. But he couldn't help but grin modestly in a somewhat embarrassed manner as Taylor went on about him and the new look, at least until she brought up sex and how easy it was to get laid at work before... Moving on to call Mercy a Cow? Clyde gave Taylor a very perplexed stare as he tried to comprehend what she was saying to the poor cowboy who was indeed up to his eyeballs in debt.

"Uhhh..." He let out as he thought over and over about Taylor's words that he would play back in his head, trying to understand what she meant before he just went out and spoke while Taylor started talking to the saleswoman.

"Lady, I didn't get a lick of what you just said... Did you just call Mercy a slut?" Asked the unrefined blonde while scratching the side of his head before he turned to Saleswoman who looked on at Taylor.

"Need help." He said and pointed at the tie that Taylor held to signal his S.O.S.

"I got a way to pay off this off easy... Brittany Luuve owes me Ten Grand anyway. I'm more worried about me being able to afford a dang gift for Mercy and my Sis..." Expressed Clyde with a sigh before he looked at Taylor with uncertainty. He was sure she'd laugh at this question, it was kid's stuff after all but he didn't know what else to try.

"...So... I know you said Mercy could prolly use someone who could get her to lighten up... You think She'd like to go to an Amusement Park or somethin'? Or's that too kiddy?" Clyde would ask. He had gone to the state fair several times as a teenager, the girl's back home were always eager to have someone take them their and of course pay for everything. But that was back when he was about 15 and 16. Mercy was an uptight, lawyer-person and most likely in her early or mid twenties. Clyde didn't know if suggesting an amusement park would get him laughed at. It Was kid's stuff, right?

Taylor shook her head and scowled. She thought about saying something derisive about Brittany Luvve, but she didn't bother. She wasn't worth it, and given the rest of Clyde's friends, he was probably friends with her too.

While the saleswoman quickly tied the tie for Clyde, adjusted it, and straightened him out, Taylor stood back and looked at the finished product. She waited until the woman was finished and then grabbed Clyde by the wrist and led him off a distance for some privacy.

"Just a sec." She said to the saleswoman. She turned to Clyde. "Hey, so, I need to know something, okay?" She said, looking him straight in the eye. "Are you, like, with Mercy, are you for real? Like, are you gonna be a good guy?" She paused. "I need to know now."

Clyde noticed how Taylor reacted when he brought up Brittany. He figured Taylor probably still hated her for taking the Entropy Title and especially for running in on that Boxing match she had with Akashi. Clyde thought it was best to keep quiet.

Eventually though the saleswoman would tie his tie and adjust it, making Clyde let out a grunt of sorts. It was kind of tight on the throat. He was about to turn and have a look in the mirror before Taylor grabbed his wrist and hauled him away, confusing Clyde, but going with the flow as Taylor seemed to want to want to ask him something, which led to Clyde looking at Taylor as he scratched the side of his head with a somewhat perplexed frown following the question. But he was quick to answer.

"Well 'Course I'ma be a Good Guy, why I be anythin' less?" Said Clyde (With his usual South Texas Dialect) like the question was a no-brainier, his words spoken quickly and clumped together. The meaning behind her worlds may have flown over his head just a bit, But he just couldn't fathom or understand why he wouldn't be a Good Guy to Mercy.

"But I ain't With her though, not yet. But I'd sure as hell like ta' be." Clyde expressed honestly.

"Because you haven't been a good guy." She said sternly, squaring up with him and demanding his full attention with her gaze. "You've been drunk more often than not when I've bumped into you, drunk and whiny and bitchy and you tried to fight me because I don't like she-who-will-not-be-named. Then you tried to fight my boyfriend, who would kill you, by the way, and so would I, so maybe you can sort of get why I have my doubts."

She sighed, and looked off into the distance past Clyde while she absently fussed over her bangs. "But... I don't even care about that so much. I know how you Tension guys are, but, like, I know they aren't all that way. I just need to know that..." She paused, and thought for a moment. "Just tell me straight up what your deal is with Mercy, alright?" She said, and fixed her dark blue eyes back on his.

Clyde frowned deeply at Taylor's stern deceleration and lowered his head, averting his eyes for a moment when she gave him that strong gaze that intimidated him because he didn't want to face the truth behind his past actions. Everything Taylor brought up was correct, Clyde could not argue and actually started to feel a bit guilty, especially considering he had gotten drunk just last night, even if it was accidental.

He rolled his eyes when Taylor brought up the certain girl who had been the source of his recent fall from grace. Taylor clearly had no clue. He frowned though when she declared Johnny would kill him. And apparently she could as well? Nice to know, Clyde figured. Random deceleration to possibly convince herself that she was tough too. Or maybe she just liked putting him down. Still, Clyde listened to Taylor continue on a bit more, bringing up the tension guys and the usual stereotype before bringing forth something she had to know apparently regarding him and Mercy.

He gave a brief chuckle under his breath while his feet shifted in place a bit before he looked to Taylor, having kept his cool despite all she had to tell him. He couldn't deny that he was hesitant to be honest with his thing with Mercy, last time she mocked him for it. Why would she be any different now?

"I gotta crush on her." He admitted bluntly with smug smile as he gave off a light shrug. It was as straight forward as he could get without getting into the more complicated emotions that had risen up recently. He also felt it was best to leave out the details surrounding the feelings before and after the one night stand. She'd probably just laugh at that anyway.

Taylor raised an eyebrow at Clyde and gave him a look. "Come on." She said. Her face tightened and she turned away. "Be real for just a second here, a'right? We're not in high school. What the fuck do you want with this girl, eh?" She said, and in her agitation she started sounding like a NYC cab driver as her accent crept out.

She glanced over Clyde's shoulder at the saleswoman, who was waiting patiently for them in anticipation of her sizable sale. "Look, I'm a forgiving chick, ya know? People don't know, but I am. I know people more fucked up than you who grew some balls and got straightened out, so like, whatever. But if you wanna be a drunk and fuck around, you're not gonna have my blessing with Mercy, know what I mean? So fuckin' look me in the eye right now and give it to me straight."