A short while later the pair reunited by the front door, cleaned up and changed into clothes that hadn’t endured their morning shenanigans. With great reluctance Brooke activated her charm, then shuddered as she endured the arcane pull of higher dimensions tucking away her demonic features. She let out a sigh a moment later, the process thankfully a short one, even if it did leave her with a lingering sense of discomfort.
She was startled out of her contemplation by a sudden hug. “Oh my baby I’m so, so sorry. Amy told me about this but I was just so excited I totally forgot! If you want to stay in I promise there’s still got plenty of mother daughter activities we can do here.”
Brooke looked down at her mother in a slight daze. When had her mother last been this concerned about her? Or perhaps it was more fair to ask when had she last shown the concern so openly? She wrapped her arms around her mother and gave a light squeeze. “Did it really look that bad?”
Her mother looked up at her and nodded, trying to force out a small smile as she spoke. “Yeah… I’ve seen you look more pleased while fighting the flu.”
Brooke gave another squeeze before releasing her mother, forcing a small smile of her own. Yeah, it was unpleasant… but compared to her old body? This was a small price to pay to spend time with her mother. “Well of course! The flu at least meant I got to skip school!”
Her mother giggled as they both pulled on their shoes, her smile becoming a little less forced. “Oh yes, because you were always so thrilled to be at home.”
Now it was Brooke’s turn to giggle. “Regardless! It’s fine. It’s something I need to get used to, and I can’t imagine a better incentive to endure that process than spending a day out with my mom.”
She’d just gotten her foot back on the floor when her mother practically tackled her with another hug. “Oh my darling princess aren’t you just the sweetest thing! You’re going to make me cry!”
Although the tone was joking, Brooke could see the quiver of her mother’s lip, and the shimmer in her eyes. She felt her heart tighten and her eyes grow damp as she once more was reminded just how much this meant to her mother. They’d both been trapped in that house for so long…
She wiped her eyes, gave her mother a gentle squeeze, then stepped out the front door. They’d never get anywhere if they kept crying over the idea of going! Her mother followed, locking the door behind them with a key she must have received at some point and that most definitely didn’t mean anything. The fact it’s a custom key with the top shaped like her favourite animal is just a coincidence. Tons of people like sheep right?
Once more relegating the potential flirtations between her mother and Ms. Zwavel to the back of her mind Brooke briefly considered her mother’s car before discarding the idea. “Hey mom, why don’t we walk to the mall?”
Her mother’s smile was brilliant, and she felt herself quickly begin to mimic it. All the tension brought on by her transformation melting away at the little reminder of who they used to be before her father had crushed them into his preferred shapes. She held out her hand, and with a smile her mother took it. They’d go for a walk, just like old times.
So walk they did. First through the woods around their current home, then along the bustling streets of their little town. Just two strangers amidst the crowd, not worth a second glance from anyone without a special interest.
It was a bright and sunny day, but even that couldn’t entirely ward off the gentle chill of the season. Fortunately, neither of them had dressed lightly, and the temperature wasn’t quite bad enough to redden ears or nose. It was nice. Just a mother and her daughter going for a walk, enjoying the changing leaves and remaining flowers. Simple yet meaningful as they pointed out each mildly notable item they came across to one another.
Eventually, the liminal space of the walk had to come to a close. The mall stood two stories tall and remained in good repair, an impressive feat considering the size of the town and the increasing prevalence of online shopping. A feat it largely achieved by positioning itself as a place of entertainment that also offered a variety of stores.
It was these places of entertainment that Brooke chose to blame for the bustling crowd within the mall. Not so large as to require pushing through, but large enough to make the space feel full. She found herself gazing over the crowd, mind in a haze as she thought about her last visit to the mall. A hazy memory of an uncomfortable puberty and being forced to choose between dozens of unappealing pieces of clothing.
Her mother gave her hand a squeeze, looking up at her with a slight smile. “Doing okay sweetie?”
This time would be different. She looked down at her mother with a smile and returned the squeeze. “Yeah. Yeah I am.”
Her mother led the way through the crowd, parting the tide of people with the vigour of a woman on a mission. She’d spotted her target and none would stand in her way! Her target, of course, being the clothing shop closest to the main entrance.
The store was a large, dull space filled with shelves and hangers forming lines upon lines of no-brand clothing acquired for cheap and sold to the people of the town for only slightly less cheap. It was where she’d acquired almost all her clothes as Jay, and a part of her wanted to rebel and the familiar environment, to drag her mother somewhere else with enough lingerie on display to make both of them blush!
But as she stepped into the women’s section her concerns faded away. Colours and styles and patterns and fabrics of all kinds washed away the memories drab greys and browns of the men’s section. It was like a completely different world. She found herself moving before thinking, touching and investigating items left and right as she failed to even consider how they’d look on her. It was instinct, a pure desire to be there in the moment and enjoy the items as they were in front of her.
She was only drawn out of her excited fervour by the polite cough of her mother, slightly buried beneath a collection of clothes Brooke hadn’t even realised she’d been tossing to her. “Why don’t you go try these on first, then we can keep looking with a bit more info about what kinds of things you want?”
Brooke nodded slowly, trying to ignore the blush she could feel warming her cheeks. With deliberate caution she took the clothes from her mother and made her way to the changing room, trying to ignore the giggling from her mother as she went.
Fortunately, one was empty and so she was able to slip in without having to confront anyone with the ridiculous pile of clothing she’d selected. She’d never cared about clothes before! Was this a demon thing? Or a girl thing? Or a… trans thing?
She still somewhat struggled with the idea she was trans. She’d been magically transformed into a girl by the time she figured out she wanted to be one, and the fact she was a demon had somewhat taken precedence. She’d done some research of course, and she’d done research beforehand because of her friends, and, well… So there was a lot of evidence for it, but she’d spent so much time with trans people! How had it taken so long for her to figure it out?!
She sighed as she finally managed to find a piece of clothing that actually fit. She… might not have been the best at estimating sizes while choosing her options. Regardless, she was now wearing a flowy white skirt with pink flowers and… and why was she crying? She’d put on girl clothes before! She went to school as a girl!
She wiped her eyes as she gave a little twirl and couldn’t help but giggle. The skirt sure does go spinny. There was just something different about the shear practicality of the items Ms. Zwavel provided. They weren’t girl clothes, they were demon clothes. They were things she needed to wear because they’d accommodate her demonic nature and she had no other option.
This skirt? This was a choice. An expression of who she wanted to be and how she wanted to be seen. She pulled off her top and pulled on a white blouse with some flowers along the shoulder. More purple than pink but it was close enough. In the mirror was a girl ready for a warm spring day. A beautiful woman you’d see walking through a flower garden wearing a big floppy hat.
She wiped her eyes again as she pulled them off. She hadn’t expected the emotions to hit her quite so hard quite so quickly. The next dress thankfully looked bad enough on her to give her an emotional breather. It was a nice pattern, but the dress made her look like a rectangle.
She got through several more items that simply didn’t fit before finding an item she couldn’t believe she’d actually picked for herself. What had she been thinking?! Okay, she hadn’t been, but that's besides the point. She found herself staring down at a pair of denim short shorts. They probably wouldn’t even fit!
She kept glancing at the door as she pulled them on, as if her mother would somehow know the exact moment her daughter became some sort of dollymop! She fell into a fit of giggles at the thought, trying to recall where she’d even heard the term. She managed to finish pulling on the shorts and, although they didn’t quite fit and she wasn’t a big fan of the exact cut and colour… She couldn’t help but admit she looked damn good in them. She struck several poses before discarding them, making a mental note to look for other options.
She did manage to find a couple dresses that weren’t too bad… but it turned out a bargain store wasn’t exactly the epitome of artistry and quality. She doubted she’d have cared nearly as much before, but her skin was a lot more sensitive to poorly placed stitchwork.
She pulled on her original clothes and opened the door, handing her mother the pile of two dresses, a skirt, and a blouse that she’d actually enjoyed wearing, while she personally handled the pile of items that had failed her inspection… or simply didn’t fit.
Her mother looked up at Brooke as she put away her phone beneath the items that had been dumped on her, not breaking eye contact as she opened her purse, deposited it, and then closed the latch once more. Finally her expression broke into a smile as she stood.
“Well alright then! Put those over there and an employee will hang them up later.” She motioned to an existing pile of clothes in one corner of the changing room and Brooke quickly obliged. “Now we can go through the rest of the isles with a bit better of an idea what you’re looking for, hmm?”
Brooke’s blush immediately returned as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Y-yeah I… uh… actually mostly chose stuff in the wrong sizes.”
That got a snort out of her mother. “Did you at least check if they were things you’d like if they did fit?”
The refusal to make eye contact was all the answer she needed. “Alright silly girl, grab those clothes again and get back in there. Remember that fit isn’t everything. We can find a different size or get Amy to fix it up later. Right now we’re just trying to get an idea of what you like.”
With a yet redder blush at being called a ‘silly girl’ she did as she was told. This was, unfortunately, a much more emotionally taxing endeavour. She couldn’t just see if something fit or felt good, she had to actually invest some of herself in every item. How would she feel wearing it to the park? To a club? To school if it were allowed? How would she feel being seen in it?
Slowly but surely she worked through the clothes in the pile once more, modulating between giggles and tears as her mind wandered to all manner of scenarios. When she was finally done she’d come to a few conclusions, and was eager to present them to her mother.
With the items once more discarded in the pile she stood up straight in front of her mother with a big grin on her face, only growing larger at the raised eyebrow and slight smirk of her mother as she waited to hear whatever had her daughter in such a mood. She planted her feet and spoke with all the resolve of a general before their queen, because of course it’s a queen in her imagination. Also the general is a woman and they’ve got this secret romance thing going on… Wait in this example she’s the general and her mom’s the queen fuck nope nope nope abort!
She abandoned her imagination as quickly as possible, finding refuge in the spoken word. “I think I prefer light, floaty clothes with soft fabrics and gentle colours.”
Her mother looked down at the four items she still held and nodded. That did in fact describe the four she was holding.
What didn’t describe those items were her next words. “I also like clothes that make me look sexy!”
Her mother blinked, eyes wide, for several agonizing seconds before bursting into a fit of giggles. “Well alright then! Though if you want sexy this probably isn’t going to be the place to get it. Let’s focus on the light and floaty from here, and keep an eye for sexy elsewhere.”
The giggles were contagious as Brooke let the tension run out of her body, the awkwardness of having to discuss the idea she wanted to look sexy fading under the force of their combined humour. She rolled her shoulders as they made their way back out into the store, ready to hunt for more items to try on. They were there to have fun and she’d be damned if she’d let a little awkwardness get in the way! She was Brooke! Big, strong, sexy, and confident! This clothing store wouldn’t know what hit it!
Spin.
i enjoy them healing from the trauma so much , i never really got mine back . living for mom fluff.
did she get the shorts?
Tons of people like sheep right?
Don't underestimate Shaun the Sheep!
Skirt does indeed go spinny. Hell, I'm AFAB and I enjoy a good spinny skirt. They're just fun! And a nice sensory experience, if the material's texture and weight is just right.
*w*