Okay, that might have been a slight exaggeration. It turned out they could in fact handle a woman and her daughter buying a single dress and skirt. After considering the mediocre quality the rest of the items had been discarded in favour of hoping to find something better elsewhere. They’d briefly considered buying everything and returning items they didn’t need at the end of the trip, but neither felt like dealing with the potentially awkward social interactions required.

 

Brooke was still deeply perplexed by the card her mother had used. As far as she was aware her father had insisted that all cards should be in his name, so the existence of one with her mother’s name on it was a point of incredible confusion. Unfortunately for her, the more she asked about it, the more fun her mother seemed to have playing up the mystery.

 

They got through two more painfully generic stores with only token purchases before something finally caught her eye. Dia’s Disaster was an anomaly. A single point of dreary darkness amidst the bright and welcoming storefronts of the mall. Skulls, chains, and pentagrams decorate the glass, obscuring the interior behind black shrouds.

 

She knew it was the exact opposite of what she’d just said she wanted but she was allowed to want different things! It wasn’t like the previous places had anything even close to what Dia’s was offering. The place was lit by fake candles, and the shelves were a mix of accessories befitting a budding goth, rebel without a cause, or some kind of candy variant of either. Belts and chains and chokers and rings and bracelets and leggings in dark shades and riotous brightness with nothing in between. The centre of the store was occupied with clothing. Items that need the space to show off.

 

She really had no clue where to start… so it was a good thing there was an employee who seemed happy to show off the merch! Well, maybe not happy, he honestly looked pretty nervous, but she needed help and that’s what he was there for right?

 

He was wearing big, baggy pants with lots of zippers and chains, a pair of belts with spikes on them, a mesh top over some kind of crop-top with a black vest with torn sleeves and spiked shoulders. For accessories he wore a choker with a silver skull on the front, a single skull stud earring, and some eyeliner that was possibly more facepaint given the way it ran down his cheeks. His black hair was tied up into a tight ponytail, with just enough left free to frame his face. It was a hell of a look and she was ready to see what he could do for her!

 

“Oh h-hey Brooke.”

 

The voice might not have been a dead giveaway, but the awkward way they tried to avoid eye contact sealed the deal. Brooke had seen it less than twenty-four hours before.

 

“Amber?”

 

Brooke did her best to not react to how Amber flinched at the name, and quickly tried to move things along. “You work here?”

 

Amber nodded, still refusing to make eye contact. “Y-yeah uh… Don’t… don’t spread it around okay?”

 

“Don’t spread… do your friends at school not know you work here?” It seemed ridiculous, but she couldn’t think of any other reason to keep it secret. Her parents would already have to know for her to have gotten the job, and it’s not like the school had rules against it. Maybe the church? Brooke couldn’t imagine she was especially religious given what she was wearing.

 

“N-no. This isn’t really the type of place they shop so…”

 

Brooke blinked down at Amber, once more considering the fact her friends didn’t seem to think particularly highly of her. Then something occurred to her. Her friends were all children of… church money, for lack of a better term. But if Amber’s parents were fine with her working at a place like Dia’s… were they not?

 

Thinking back on it, she knew what the other three girl’s parents did. The school was always happy to bring them in for presentations, but she had absolutely no clue about Amber’s.

 

“So… uh… c-can I help you with anything?”

 

The question drew Brooke out of her head and forced her to prioritise her original reason for walking into the store… Even if a part of her was insisting there was more going.

 

“Oh! Yeah I’m trying out different styles to see what I like, but there’s just so much stuff here I’m not really sure where to start? I’ve been trying on stuff at a few other stores and it was mostly fine just trying on individual pieces and then putting together the stuff I like, but I feel like that’s not really going to work here.”

 

Then she remembered their little exchange in class and she just couldn’t resist her demonic nature. Tormenting mortals was in her blood right? “So! Think you can help me look hot. As. Fuck?”

 

The cheesy grin, the cocked hip, the raised eyebrow and the slight forward lean. She was pulling out all the stops. Though perhaps tapping Amber on the cheek to punctuate her last three words had been overkill? Brooke could practically see the error code printed on her eyes as she blue screened.

 

It was still several seconds after Brooke pulled back her hand before Amber finally regained the ability to speak. During this time Brooke finally identified something that had been bothering her. Amber wasn’t usually this tall. Was she wearing platforms? Her pants were long enough to obscure her footwear so it was possible.

 

“W-why w-would y-you think I can h-help with that?!” Amber was practically bright red and barely holding her words together. It was absolutely adorable.

 

“Well, you know, the way you were looking at me the past two days? I figured you’d had plenty of time to fantasise about what you’d wanna see me in. Now I’m giving you the chance to make it a reality. No tricks. No shame. I wanna look hot, you wanna see me looking hot, it’s a win win right?”

 

Brooke was a little worried Amber had blue screened again, but somehow this felt different. There wasn’t the held breath of erotic distress, but instead the incredulous stare of someone hearing something too good to be true. There was a war going on in that head of hers and Brooke wasn’t entirely sure what the sides were.

 

“You promise not to tell anyone? About me working here, or about us doing this, or about me liking girls?” The tone was suspicious, but tinged with hope. It was a little heartbreaking.

 

She was glad she could respond with a confident nod, and a big smile. “Of course! Anything you want kept between the two of us won’t leave my fingers or lips under threat of life or limb!”

 

Amber rolled her eyes and began to step away. Brooke couldn’t have that. Even if she seemed generally satisfied with the answer Brooke needed her to understand how seriously she took this sort of thing. She caught her arm, more just letting Amber walk into her open hand than actually grabbing her, and then brought them back into alignment.

 

She leaned forward, letting all the false bravado drain from her face as she tried to meet Amber eye to eye. “Hey. Listen. I know I was kind of playing it up there, but I need you to understand that I’m completely serious about it. I don’t know what your family is like, I know this is the sort of thing that could cause big problems at home, or here at work, or any number of other places in a town like this. So please, please trust me when I say that I will keep your confidence even if it means putting myself in a really shitty situation. Even if it means getting hurt. And if it does ever get out and you need help? I’ll be here for you. I promise.”

 

Amber’s eyes were watering as she gasped out something between a sob and a laugh. “W-why would… Why would you d-do that for me? Y-you barely even kn-know me!”

 

Honestly, Brooke wasn’t entirely sure, but something Ms. Zwavel said came to her and she felt it held the closest thing to truth she’d manage. “I can’t help everyone, but the least I can do is help those in arms reach. There’s not much I can really do, but standing up for you? Standing between you and some assholes? Just being a friendly ear? I can do that.”

 

Amber practically tackled her, burying her crying face into Brooke’s shoulder as Brooke returned the hug. It was several moments before she heard something mumbled into her wet top, and she felt a little bad stopping her back rub to ask what Amber had said.

 

“I-I-I’m t-t-trans…”

 

No sooner had she- or… he? They? She’d go with they until she could get clarification. No sooner had they gotten the statement out than they were back crying on her shoulder, and now Brooke was tearing up and really didn’t have it in her to hold back on the hug they so clearly needed.

 

She honestly wasn’t sure how long it took them to calm down, eventually Brooke had started crying, which only seemed to encourage their partner in tears to cry harder, which really did make keeping track of time more difficult. When they did finally pull back Brooke wiped her tears and gave a shaky smile.

 

She took a step back, and held out her hand. “Hey there, nice to meet you! My name’s Brooke and I use she/her pronouns.” 

 

There was a moment of confusion, but soon enough not-Amber took her hand with a slightly strained smile of her own. “Nice to meet you Brooke. I’m Jake, and I use he/him pronouns.”

 

Brooke gave two shakes before pulling him into a great big hug. “Nice to meet you Jake!” And then suddenly something hit her. “Oh shit your makeup!” 

 

Jake pulled back, eyes wide as he looked at the shoulder he’d been crying on. “Oh shit your sweater!”

 

Brooke giggled and waved off the concern as she inspected the point of concern. “It’s fine, the sweater’s already dark, you can barely see it. More importantly… You still need to help me look hot as fuck!”

Jake snorted. “Really? You still want my help? Even now that you know I’m a guy?”

 

Brooke shrugged. “How else am I going to know what guys want to look at?”

 

She stared into his eyes, daring him to mention the fact she’d grown up as one. Instead Jake raised a different point of concern. “I thought you were into girls?”

 

Now it was Brooke’s turn to laugh. If she’d been asked that a week ago she’d probably have said she was and let it sit. Now? Well… “Hey! I’m a patron of the arts! I appreciate the appeal of both sexes, even if I think women have the upper hand.”

 

Jake rolled his eyes as he turned to inspect the nearby merchandise. “Well obviously you already know my preferences so I suppose that settles it… How do you feel about skulls?”

 

The next several minutes were occupied by questions of sizes and colours and textures in a shocking display of intensity. Brooke really hadn’t expected Jake to take things so seriously and she had to admit the excitement was infectious. By the time she got into the changing room she had an outfit picked out, with a couple sizes of each item, and instructions on how to put them on.

 

It was mostly about getting the order right. First were the torn fishnets, which were admittedly a bit of a struggle as she did her best not to tear them further. Would it matter if she did? She finally managed to get them on without further damaging the pre-damaged item regardless. Next came the shorts. A pair of soft black short shorts with dark purple highlights around the legs. So far so simple.

 

Next was the bustier, a black top with dark purple lace made to mimic the design of a corset. Unfortunately, she’d need to remove her bra to accommodate the much more revealing top, and so for the first time she was made to endure without proper support. At least the bustier had been made with that fact in mind, providing some small amount of support with the firm cups supported by shoulder straps. She was definitely glad her human form had a smaller bust at that moment.

 

Checking to make sure she’d done it up right in the mirror she had to admit that the look at least was worth some discomfort. The combination between it, the shorts, and the fishnets was… well. They certainly enhanced her already abundant appeal in her opinion.

 

From there was the leather collar, complete with a dog tag hanging from a long, thin chain. A pair of bones crossed over one another to make a heart… and an arrow directly down into her newly enhanced cleavage. Then came the black fingerless gloves with dark purple around the wrists, a leather hair tie to keep her bright blonde hair in a ponytail, and then a cropped off leather jacket.

 

Finally she pulled on the big, mean, stomping boots. She wasn’t exactly sure she needed the extra two inches of platform, but it was what the store had available.

 

With the outfit complete, she finally turned back to the mirror, taking it all in. Fuck. She was hot! She knew she probably shouldn’t think that way but… well… she was! The outfit made her look big, sexy, and in control. Like she could walk up to just about anyone and make them do whatever she wanted without them ever even thinking the word no.

 

She loved it. She almost wanted to- No, no that’d be too weird right? But… he was the one who picked out the outfit right? He’d enjoy it! She’d enjoy it! They were consenting adults! Okay, maybe that was taking things a bit far. Joking aside, she looked at the smile in the mirror and knew she was going to do it. She was there to have fun, so she wasn’t going to hold back.

 

Turning to the curtain she threw it open and stepped out. Shoulders back, chest out, confident smirk. She had this. Based on the wide eyes of her soon to be victim, she really, really did.

 

She popped her hip and placed a hand on it, quirking an eyebrow as she did so. “Well go on, get your phone out.”

 

The confusion seemed to be enough to push him out of his stupor, but Brooke had no intention of surrendering the initiative by letting him actually ask the question. “So you can take pictures?”

 

She fought back her grin as she saw his cheeks light up and his eyes dart away. It was clear he was trying to figure out some apology, but she wasn’t done yet. “I said. Phone. Out. And while we’re at it, eyes up. I want pictures, and to that end you’re also going to get pictures. Do I make myself clear?”

She wasn’t sure she was exactly landing the tone or wording, but considering he soon had his phone in hand and a slight smile on his face she suspected she wasn’t doing too bad. She raised the hand not on her hip and flicked it to the side, trying to look haughty and unimpressed as she heard the fake snapping of the phone camera going off several times.

 

Good, but what kind of photo shoot only has one pose? She leaned forward, letting her smile grow just a little wider as she reached out her hand to him. The snaps that followed told her she didn’t even need to ask. Good.

 

Finally she turned around, looking over her shoulder and giving Jake a wink. Snap snap snap snap. Perfect. She was out of pose ideas and starting to actually worry someone might walk in on them so it was time to finish things off.

 

Turning back around to face him she stepped forward with confidence, letting her long, dark purple nails trace his cheek as she spoke in her best attempt at a sultry voice. “What a good boy, I hardly even had to say a word.”

 

The look on his face was absolutely priceless, and the fact she had to quickly catch the phone falling from his fingers finally made her break character. She couldn’t hold back a laugh, and had absolutely no clue how a sexy dominant woman was supposed to laugh without totally killing the mood.

 

Though, perhaps killing the mood was what Jake needed as it seemed it finally got him breathing again. She handed back his phone with a much more casual smile before turning back to the changing room.

 

“Well I’m glad you enjoyed that! I was a little worried I was going too far!” she giggled through the curtain as she changed back.

 

“W-well it was certainly… a lot. But uh… Can’t say I ever expected to see something like that, even less to see it from you. I… uh… guess transitioning has been pretty good for your confidence?”

 

Brooke snorted at the understatement. “Oh you have no idea. Honestly though that was a bit much even for the new me. I wanted to try playing it up, you know? Can’t imagine doing that sort of thing full time, but it was definitely fun. You made some absolutely adorable sounds.”

 

Jake huffed. “You’re just lucky this place is so unpopular. What would you have done if someone had walked in during that?”

 

That suddenly reminded her… “Wait. Where’s my mom?”