If You Have To Ask The Price... (Kai)

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Oriel's search for a job had yielded only one thing: a chronic irritation and overall hate for the human race.

While he'd been scoping out the mall and the other general areas of Pilot Ridge, Oriel had yet to find a single place that looked appealing enough for him to get over himself and just try for. It was undeniable. Oriel just wasn't cut out for customer service and retail. He hated people too much, got too irritated at them closing in on him and possibly asking him questions he didn't know, and was more likely to insult people than express a "genuine" want to help them. Oriel was staring to think that getting just any job for the sake of getting one was impossible for him. He'd...have to go for something really specific, if that would even work.

Still, Oriel was making one last sweep through the mall, seeing if there was anything he missed. There were a number of stores he had neglected to venture into for the mere fact that they were high end stores and meant for people born into far more privilege than he could hope for. He figured if he hadn't gotten anything by now at the lower end stores, then he had nothing to lose by invading the places that made him cringe just to touch the hangers the clothes were draped from.

From The Spectrum. It certainly looked like a ritzy store. Some place that he expected maybe Carter or Dom to shop at...if they shopped at all. Actually, Oriel suspected they just had people to do their shopping for them and they just "magically" appeared in their closets when what they had had already been worn for more than a week. He felt out of place in this place, like he was infringing on some sacred ground just by stepping onto the pristine tiled floor. But Oriel worked up the courage to do it anyway, taking a deep breath and wearing a mask that said that he had every intention of tainting every single article this high-end store had on the floor.

It was mostly quiet in the place, not a lot of customers....of course there weren't. Who in there right mind would want to spend.... holy fuck!? That much for a shirt that was basically a scrap of cloth that looked like it came from a trash can!? Oriel just did not understand the rich....

[Malachai Roen]

Kai was certainly rich, and therefore had never had the opportunity to see the wares in his store from any other point of view. He was never too good at the whole walking-in-other-people's-shoes deal, although he was pretty good at getting on people's good sides. Which, along with many other reasons, was why he had this job and excelled at it. Women loved him, men appreciated his help... The only customer he'd ever really made all that upset was Zach, and that was a completely different story.

Well... It was true there were the occasional snooty, frugal people that sometimes wandered into the store and bitched about their prices, but Kai dealt with them as best he could.

It was a quiet hour, though, so once a young man walked into the shop, Kai finished re-organizing the shelf he was working on and wandered over, air of professionalism in place, with his hair perfectly smoothed back, stubble neatly trimmed... etc. The customer was looking at an item with what appeared to be almost... A disgusted look, so Kai mentally prepared himself. "Can I help you, sir?" he asked smoothly, smile in place. "I can help you find what you're looking for, if that's not your... Style."

Speaking of style... Kai couldn't help but take note of the boy's hair, and his facial structure. From an aesthetic perspective, Kai had to admire it - had he been a less attractive (and vain) man himself, he might have almost been jealous.

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If anybody described Oriel as a snooty, frugal person, then they'd likely be getting up close and personal with the wall behind them. The second descriptor might match his views towards spending money, but he hardly thought he could be considered snooty about it. Besides, it was still a fact that stores like these were charging enough money to feed the boy and his lover for a week just for a shirt that would probably get him called "dweeb" just for looking at.

Why was he here again?

He flicked his eyes up to the….wow, that was a tall fucking squint. What was with all these chinks that were taller than him recently? First Gryph, now this guy? Weren't these guys supposed to be short?

Whatever, didn't matter. Oriel grunted. "Dunno, think this whole fucking store ain't my style." He flipped over the price tag. "Who the fuck needs to pay 68 fucking dollars for a scrap of cheap cloth?" Oriel looked up at the man again then back down, shaking his head and letting his loose hair slide over his shoulders.

Still, he had to admit some of the shit they had in here was pretty tight. Oriel himself wasn't dressed much to impress, but had at least bothered to button up his red-plaid shirt. Next time he might actually tuck it in…..or not.

[Malachai Roen]

Ironically, Kai didn't actually wear much from the store that he worked at - it was all nice, and was in very good taste (in his opinion), but a lot of it was a little too flashy for the rather suave man. He modeled for it, sure, and he'd had several people notice that some of the modeling pictures on the wall were of him, but he was usually dressed in dark, simple tones, especially for work.

But anyway, seeing a young man in plaid (red plaid) wasn't extremely common in the shop, so Kai had suspicions.

"Our brands aren't for everyone," he agreed easily, glancing down at the shirt in Oriel's hands. Definitely something he wouldn't wear himself, and couldn't see the kid wearing either. Kai had to smirk at what he said next. "You'd be surprised," he replied, fingering the thin fabric. "Although admittedly, this isn't a particularly popular item."

He eyed the boy over again, tapping his knuckles against his chin. "I think I could fine something that would work better for you," Kai went on slowly. Yes... He definitely could. The kid looked like he could pull off a lot pretty easily. Hardly looking where he was going, Kai quickly picked out an entire outfit for his young customer, having judged his size just by looking, and stepped back to him in hardly a minute. "I think you might find these more to your taste, perhaps?" He held out the items - dark pants, a low-necked, somewhat form-fitting shirt, and a nice, lightweight jacket to wear over the top. He wasn't worried about shoes... Yet.

"Has anyone ever told you that you might be good for the modeling business?" Kai asked curiously as he handed the clothing over.

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There was nothing wrong with red plaid, in Oriel's opinion(or blue or green or yellow and blue or black on black, Oriel actually had all sorts in addition to a bunch of simple solid colored button ups). What looked good looked good. Especially on him. And besides, Oriel wasn't much of a t-shirt guy, he preferred to just wear the white tank, but that was often deemed as inappropriate, so the button up shirts were there for necessity.

In any case, Oriel wasn't much a guy for fashion. His interest had only recently been piked and it was for….well, the fashion he was starting to look into was hardly appropriate for everyday wear. Besides, men's clothes were boring. "No shit. What were they thinking when they designed this overpriced washcloth?"

The guy was giving him a weird look, like he was checking him out or something and while Oriel was often more than willing to return the favor, something about this guy just screamed sleaze. And the way he was looking at Oriel was like he was obviously judging him, and that made the 16-year-old boy even more uncomfortable. "You get a good eye-full of this, Pedo-lips?" Because damn if that guy didn't have a unnaturally full set of lips. Plastic surgery, if Oriel had to guess. No way those were real.

After the absurdly tall asian salesperson checked out the boy like an NC-17 movie, he darted off for a moment and snagged some random-looking shit from the racks then returned, practically shoving them at the scowling ink manipulator. Oriel didn't know what his game was, but he had to know that there was no way in a million years that Oriel would be able to afford even one piece of whatever outfit he'd picked out, much less the entire thing. Still…Oriel supposed it didn't' hurt to just put them on, right?

He took them hesitantly, not sure if just touching them was going to devalue the clothes and put him in a debt of millions. Oriel rose a brow at the attendant. "No," he said curtly. Stubborn as always, Oriel wasn't even going to ask where he was going with that. It was surely a trap of some kind. He shoved past the man towards the dressing room, not bothering to see if the guy was following. He probably was. Places like these liked to put locks on their doors and needed keys to get inside. Stupid rich-ritzy places.

[Malachai Roen]

"I wouldn't know. I don't design the clothes, only sell them," Kai answered honestly with a smile. Man, this kid had an attitude. If he wasn't working, he'd be treating the situation a lot differently. As it was, he let his amusement just show in a very slight chuckle.

Kai didn't realize he was being quite so obvious. He just didn't run across a lot of young people that immediately gave him ideas for fashion like this kid was, and he was thrumming with possibilities. "I apologize, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he replied with an embarrassed twist of the mouth. "I'm just trying to picture what would best suit you." And that required looking at everything.

And, allowed him to go and grab what he had. Kai had a fairly confident feeling that the young man would look great in what he'd chosen, and... Well, he was a little excited, even if he couldn't afford them. It was fun just to try stuff on. At least, Kai thought so. Maybe that's why women liked spending time with him so much...

... Anyway.

An idea was brewing in Kai's mind, despite the boy's curt answer to his question, and he shrugged, stepping aside to allow Oriel to pass by to the fitting rooms. He did follow after, for the exact reasons that Oriel thought - he pulled out a key and unlocked one of the doors to allow the teenager to go inside. "We've been looking for new young faces to model for our clothing," he said as he opened the door, sort of off-handedly. If Oriel looked, he would see various photographs on the walls of the store, some of Kai himself. "I don't know if you would be interested or not, but... Well, you certainly have a look." He offered a pleasant smile.

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Well, Oriel supposed that made sense. Why would a simple floor salesman know anything about how they designed these clothes? "Right…" Oriel accepted his answer with ease. He wasn't really going to start blaming a simple sale rep for things that were out of his control - the prices, the dumb looks, the douchy snob atmosphere - now was he? Well….Oriel could probably blame him for the snob. This guy looked like he was raised in a golden toilet.

"Riiight…" he said again, not believing this pedo for a second. Oriel was notorious for being the guy who took on all takers when they made him an offer, but there was just something about this guy that gave him the willies. And Oriel didn't like it.

At least Oriel wasn't completely adverse to trying things on. He himself was curious though…………….ugh, what was wrong with him!? He didn't want to wear clothes, he wanted to wear costumes! Dress up or something. Something he could get away with wearing weird things, not suave things!

"Uh-huh, heard that before. Lure me in with the promise of modeling, then instead ship me off to some child slave labor factory. I getcha." Because that was how they got you, right? Well he'd heard stories…from….somewhere, maybe a movie?

Oriel did notice the pictures of this salesman on the wall and his first thought was, man, this guy is really in love with himself. But his ears did perk up at the prospect of…was that a joke or an offer? Oriel decided to just try them on first and then when he sucked, the guy could go ahead an play it off as a joke. "We'll see," he said as he went in and closed the door behind him. It didn't take more than a few minutes for him to undress and recloth himself in stuff he was worried would suddenly be ruined just from Oriel putting them on. But he had to admit, it didn't look bad. Oriel stepped out and held out his hand. "There." Though Oriel also wouldn't admit that he was anxious to hear the guy's opinion.

outfit

[Malachai Roen]

Kai liked to think of himself as smooth and easy for customers to talk to without feeling uncomfortable; apparently, he was being just a little too friendly with this one. Something told Kai he wasn't used to interacting a lot with a more... High-class crowd. Which, of course, wasn't a big deal, it was perfectly fine. So he tried to tone down his friendliness a bit, hoping it would help ease the slightly awkward interaction.

He had to laugh, though, at the boy's suspicions, shaking his head good-naturedly at the absurdity. "I promise, that's not how our company works," he chuckled, adjusting the sleeve of his shirt absent-mindedly. "We're just a local business that's hoping to branch out soon. No shady international stuff here." From the Spectrum was definitely successful enough here that the possibility of putting up shops in other cities was becoming more of a reality every day. If Kai was lucky, he might get to manage one of them... Hopefully not too far away, though.

"Alright," he replied easily as the young man went into the dressing room. He had a good itch that the kid would look perfectly model-esque in the clothes that he'd picked out; he had confidence in his ability, and, along with the kid's natural good looks, it was sure to work out. Therefore, he wasn't surprised when the boy came out a few minutes later, looking ready for a photoshoot right then and there. Kai studied the image for a moment, though he really didn't need any time to consider - he just didn't want to seem 'creepy' like the kid had thought earlier, by being too fast. "I think it looks great," he said, smiling genuinely. "They fit perfectly. How does it feel? Do you like them?" It was hard to pull off a look if you didn't like it yourself, of course. "Honestly, I think you'd be perfect for the job, but it's not entirely up to me." He was in charge of a good deal of it, but his bosses were still above him. They made the final call.

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Oriel wasn't used to interacting with a high-class crowd. Oriel wasn't even used to interacting with a middle-class crowd. This guy was probably being just as friendly as he would be to other customers, but to Oriel he was freaking him out just a little. And all that was just Oriel's problem, his issues with dealing with people. The high-class atmosphere and demeanor just made it worse. And backing off….was there such a thing?

"You sure?" he asked, a sideways smirk curling up on the side of his face. It really was just a joke…for the most part, but back in New York, it probably wasn't much of a joke. He'd heard some pretty strange stories back there, especially from those in the "service" industry. "Guess a lackey like you wouldn't know that either." He chuckled. "After all, you 'just sell the clothes', right?"

When Oriel emerged the first thing he thought that maybe his hair was in the way. Was it? He looked himself over in the mirror. "…I never worn clothes like this before," he admitted. Oriel looked back at the salesman with a nervous smile. "So I wouldn't really know…" Though he had to admit, he liked how he looked. He posed a little bit, admiring himself…because Oriel wasn't vain at all. "…..Alright, well fuck. Why'd you suggest it if you can't even…," Oriel started but then trailed off. "…If you ain't the person who makes that call, then who'm I supposed to talk to?"

[Malachai Roen]

Before Zach... Well, honestly, Kai didn't make a habit of interacting for long periods of time with people who were acutely aware of the class differences. A lot of his so-called 'friends' would turn out just to be money moochers, which would have been fine because Kai had enough to spare, but... He wanted actual relationships, too. He wasn't as... Self-centered as he seemed. .... Okay maybe he was, but that didn't mean he didn't get lonely!

"I'm sure," he assured Oriel with a wry smile. Even though he didn't have a particularly high position - yet - he was on good enough terms with his superiors that he had access to some information that others didn't. "That's my job," he admitted anyway. "But I'm pretty sure I'd know if we were shipping kids off to China. I think someone might notice." If he wasn't working, he would've been playing along with the idea even more - this kid was hilarious.

The hair was probably what finished the entire thing off, Kai thought. Not too many guys, in his opinion, were fortunate to be able to look good with long hair, and, well, this boy's mane was pretty damn perfect. "It takes some getting used to," Kai replied smoothly, though... That was another problem he had never had. "Trust me, it looks great." He didn't have to pretend to be genuine - he was. Kai hoped the kid could tell. He hid a chuckle, watching him get used to seeing himself in the clothes. "I can definitely sway their opinions towards someone if I want to," he replied, reaching out to pull a static-y hair off of Oriel's sleeve. "So, if you're interested... I can snap a few shots and send them in." Kai shrugged, flashing a bright smile.

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The only "rich" person that Oriel had in his life thus far that he didn't hate completely was that Junie friend of Phoenix's who was so painfully naive and easily able to be swindled out of his cash. Well…there were probably others(it wasn't like he asked everyone he knew of their social class), but so long as they didn't flaunt it about like some blonde twins he knew(and blonde skanks, and ginger bastards) then he really had no reason to hate them…..well, Oriel hated some people out there who weren't rich either, so guess it wasn't limited to that either…

Whatever, Oriel didn't want to justify the reasons why he hated certain people….too much to think about and no doubt nobody'd understand it anyway.

Though this guy…was a hoot, honestly. He kept up the whole "customer service" act pretty well in the face of assholery like Oriel's, even to the point of "seriously" explaining why a concept like the one Oriel had jokingly presented was "just not possible". It actually brought a smile out of the boy. "Right, 'less you're lying to me to get me off your back. Really, you wouldn't lie to an innocent, young, impressionable kid like me…now would you?" Oriel played it up just a little by giving the salesman a look with wide, child-like eyes and batting them like bambie…..which lasted about 5 seconds before he snorted very un-cutely and turned his innocent smile into a villainous sneer. "You know, you're all right for an old guy."

Oriel was busy inspecting himself in the tri-mirror, straightening out the jacket, readjusting the cuffs of the sleeves, turning around to see how great his butt looked. Yeah, he didn't look half bad. Oriel imagined Phoenix would probably faint from all the hottness that was Oriel if he were there right now. The thought made him grin like the evil kid he was. "Right, sure. Snap 'em if you want." Oriel looked over his shoulder at the salesman, totally not being over dramatic with his hair on purpose. "Ain't nothing else I got to do, or you want me to fill out an application or some shit like that?"