M (Fallen Shrine) I Don't Need Cuteness!

[Jack Pine]

Andraeste - Andaeste System
MV Fallen Shrine - Bridge

Soap was sitting at the comms terminal, looking over the job offers being presented, since being an independently flagged ship meant she was liable to have more options for where she went and all that. It was the boring captain stuff she was doing every time they came to port. Having just delivered a bunch of cattle from Sirrus II's moon to help with the ranching efforts going on here on the planet, she was ready to get more money in the ship's coffers. And also keep herself well away from the horrid stench of the barn that had been the ship's hold for the leg of the trip.

"Ugh, no, not doing another animal haul. They want it, they can get it on the normal transports." Soap grumbled, promptly closing one potential contract. She wasn't expecting much honestly. Place like this, the 'nice' jobs went to the insured and big name groups because they didn't want to lose a sizable load of those weird ass crystals that a lot of ranches and farms were getting set up around that made them hyper productive. Leaning back, she let out a long sigh looking up at the roof of the ship. They had enough to cover the cost of fuel, food and ammo (if needed) for one or two more legs. How did she function on such thin margins? Carefully. Wasn't like she could take up any and every job that came up, especially not the more high-paying ones. They wanted either proper merc work or a ship with a lot more stowage and storage than she had.

Still, it wouldn't help her people to mope, so back into the job listings she went once more.

There was the soft clack of foot falls on deck as someone else entered the bridge, a certain raven haired woman entering before leaning on the foxmod’s shoulder to look at what she was reading. “Really? Job scrolling already. Soap… Take a break, the cleaning crew need the ship empty to air it out and clean,” came the command of the woman with a sighing roll of the eyes. “No butts, other then yours, ready to hit the streets in ten.” It was accompanied by a pointed finger and stare, as Sarah gave the captain a serious tone and expression that said there would be no argument.

“Also don’t worry about the coffers, I’ll toss my savings in to cover us for a while. We need to start investing in the ship, and importantly you. Like your disturbing lack of cold wear,” she added before swaggering off to get ready herself, Soap being able to notice finally as she left, that Sarah was only currently in undies and a thin tank top. The exchange had been quick, pointedly blunt, and as quick as she had come in the first place.

Soap was in fact about to argue that statement, when Sarah already left. "I ain't getting off this ship without a client lined up woman!" Soap called back, turning back to the terminal.... And finding Sarah had shut it off. "Fucking..." It would take far longer to reboot it than just put up with whatever Sarah had in mind. "Damn it." She grumbled, pushing herself out of the chair and stomping grumpily to her quarters. She had cold weather kit. Sure, it wasn't that great, but it worked. And most of it wasn't even second-hand! Sirris had some damned cold winters, and then there was Tortuga... Yeah, she had some cold-weather clothes, if still in the theme of her current look which was still pretty military, but considering the prices of getting them was practically rock bottom compared to brand new stuff coming off the assembly lines?

She settled for a simple jacket thrown on over her shirt and pants, boots firmly seated on her feet. So, hands stuffed into pockets, she made a none too subtle pressing of her nose into the collar of her coat while she waited next to the ramp inside the ship for Sarah to show up. The jacket was really more of a bomber jacket than anything nice. Just lacked the leftover stitch marks that indicated it was bought 'new' instead of second-hand too.

Sarah didn’t take long, appearing again in a long turtleneck sweater, thick insulated tights with knee boots. She paused to look over what the fox was wearing, “Girl, we have some work ahead of us. You’re lucky it’s not the coldest today. So we’re shopping today, just me and you. Consider me dumping my savings into the fund, as me being your client. We need to update your wardrobe heavily so it doesn’t all scream trench rat chic.” The raven haired woman was almost grimacing at the look, as much as she was from the smell. “Also since this will all be coming out of my pocket as well”. She held up her handbag in emphasis with a little bit of a shake, “So let's get away from this void awful smell alright? You’ve been needing this break too, it’ll be fun I promise.”

Sophia huffed. "I can't exactly afford to do more than 'trench rat chic' anyways. Cost of new civies is like triple the cost of pop sealed uniform kits." She pointed out, walking down the ramp, giving a thumbs up to the 4 man team standing nearby with a whole passel of equipment and gas masks around their necks. Once she'd signaled, they'd all immediately grabbed their stuff and started walking up the ramp. "I don't envy those guys." She muttered, shaking her head. Drake had the jeep right now, since they'd needed to hook up the cattle to a trailer, meaning he needed it to deliver it. This wasn't so far off the books that they had to land in some field thank god. Hence the cleaning crew. Which was part of why she was trying to find a client, they were going to cost almost the whole job's worth to get the smell and... 'matter' cleaned up.

"Drake should have been back in an hour or two from the client for those cows, we could have held off that long." She pointed out to Sarah, walking beside her towards the 'pedestrian' exit.

“And give that shit smell time to waft up into the upper decks? I think not, eww. Besides, it means no one else is here to try and tag along, or bother us. I’d rather not have to kneecap crewmates for our privacy. Besides, you would have been stuck lingering around it until then anyways, so sooner the better.” A small giggle escaped her as she had talked about their privacy, despite the sincerity of the claim. Sarah was not one to let anyone get in the way of her girls' night, and private time with Soap, especially with their crew of eclectics.

Grabbing the captain’s hand, she almost practically skipped off with her, giddy for them to get to it already and even further from the stench before it had time to linger on the fabric of their clothes. “We are going to get you nice and properly kitted for being around people, and comfortable with style as well as practicality,” Sarah excitedly ushered along, “First though, comfortable warm!”

"Woman, it's not even cold enough to think about the thermals!" Soap cried out, suddenly finding herself getting dragged across the open space port like some child by an older sibling. She wasn't sure where this all was coming from, and why couldn't she stick to her look. Besides, the smell had wafted up to the upper decks, despite trying to isolate it to just the hold. Too many systems needed the vent system in full function to do that though, so they'd been left to suffer for the journey. As for how cold it was, Soap wasn't sure how Sarah wasn't sweating already, the weather wasn't nearly cold enough for that! She didn't even have the fleece lining of her coat in. The coat was more to stave off the wind than anything else.

Still, they soon found themselves near the transit stop taking them to the major city nearby. Soap just settled for leaning against the side, hands stuffed firmly in the pockets of said jacket while giving off an air of 'Not wanting to be here' that managed to keep most people from the pair.

Sarah was sitting on the passenger bench meanwhile, device in hand as she browsed stores for them to hit up for the day. Flipping through example catalogs quickly as eyes picked out desirable items for her companion. After some of that she stopped, before pulling the captain into her lap, “at least sit back will ya, you’re grumpiness is on display to everyone leaning over there. Besides, my lap’s more comfortable then the bench anyways.” The woman was beaming, a stark joyful contrast to Soap, which was actually not the norm for her, as usually she was a lesser brooding then Soap’s usual most of the time.

"Still don't get why you feel like I need new clothes." She pointed out, rolling her eyes as she was dragged into the lap. She didn't exactly resist, but she was still being a little grumpy bitch. "No offense, but this seems more like something the twins would do." The explanation was hardly needed, especially owing the 'twins' in question tended to stick to bikinis and their massive fro hair-do's than more sensible clothing. But they'd all come to accept and expect that from those two.

“Well unlike them, I’ll put you in respectable clothes, and a lot less leather with studs. They say clothes make the woman, and well…. Most of yours are rough and worn, they kinda look like the wardrobe of a homeless person if I’m being honest. At least this way, we can get you things comfortable to wear that look practical and cute. Not to mention, I got to yoink you out on a date finally, multiple long flights were starting to make me stir crazy,” Sarah offered, holding her girlfriend in question a little tighter instinctively as the tram rocked a little on a transitioning turn. The ride was a bit on the long side, since older rocket models required the port to be further, to avoid the spraying of debris and exhaust too close to the cities themselves. “See, I’ll wine and dine you, instead of dragging you to bed like a certain pair you’ve had to put up with before.”

"To be fair, that demon lady and Drake's mom tend to... Be enough energy for me to deal with for far too long." Soap pointed out, listening to the tram announcement declare their pending arrival to the first stop after leaving the space port. "The twin's are fucking tame by comparison." She continued with a snort. She didn't argue with the whole 'homeless' thing, but it was either that or the 'free' clothing stipend options, which really were worse than the surplus issue kit to purchase.

“Then stop complaining and let your girlfriend spoil you, I’ll even buy us a nice dinner later”, Sarah offered with an affectionate peck on the cheek. “Besides, the twins aren’t trying to jump your bones last I checked.” With another giggle, she enjoyed this rare chance of having the foxmod close against her like this. She was an old thot some days, but this sort of chance for snuggable and cozy embraces were her bread and butter. Plus she was a lot more subtle with her scheming to please and better her partners.

The first stop had dinged by, causing occupant to swap with a lesser few coming in, but it was a little less full now at least. Sarah wondered if she thought of any other things for them to browse while they had the opportunity, “Hey Soap, outside of clothes, is there anything you want to go looking for along the way? Anything really, could be boots, practical accessories, new pocket knives… Honestly I don’t mind whatever, but it would be a waste to not look around while we’re out for anything else you might want, seeing as I’m dragging you out to do this in the first place.”

"I mean, if I'm getting a choice?" Soap said, looking over her shoulder at Sarah behind her. "Would love to get a new fucking woobie." She said, sighing. "Finding one in the package or second-hand is absolutely a nightmare." She explained.

“Well you’re in luck, as I still have one, you can have it as an early year end gift. Anything else you can think of?” Sarah casually kept the ball rolling on their leisurely ride of public transit, looking to tackle the next want on her girl’s wishlist with the first neatly handled.

"Hold on, you're just willing to give me your woobie?" Soap asked, completely surprised. "Those things are like, fucking gold." She pointed out, knowing that those who had 'em didn't give them up easily. Hell, if she hadn't been forced to give hers up before going into the freezer, she'd still have her's.

“It’s fine, I’m not in the service anymore, or really looking to rough it like I used to when I used mine. Besides, if I really need one, I can steal one of my sons’.

"Well then..." Soap said, trying to think about it. What the fuck else would she need from a shopping trip? Something that wasn't ship critical? And she, honestly, wasn't sure. She basically spent most of her money keeping the ship and crew afloat, and she wasn't exactly the sort to go on random shopping trips. If she needed new clothes, hse just went to the nearest surplus and bought old mil-kit.

“You can also dress me up too, if there’s anything you’d like me in, just to make things fair and open your list to fun options. I’m also very curious as to what you’d pick, or what you’d desire to see a lover in, that you’d find attractive. Anything is valid for what you might want to get, whether for me or you, it’s on me.” Sarah explained further, eager to know what her girlfriend’s uninhibited thoughts might be, or things she enjoyed on the risque or seductive secrets side of things. She was just happy to spend money on her, and do something fun together.

"Woman, I barely even have time or money to consider myself, I haven't a clue what to put you in!" Soap said, huffing, though there was a bit of a laugh hidden under it. "Plus, you do enough risque to challenge the twins."

“By the gods, then experiment, try new things. Put me in whatever will make your heart flutter, or get you excited, anything! Tailor it to the risque you’ll like, I'm not some cheeky slut who shakes her ass for strangers, I want to look good or excite the people who I give a shit about. So have fun,” Sarah laughed again before affectionately nuzzling her. She figured that would be the case, but it’s a chance at her getting to have a learning experience, and try whatever. She wanted her to enjoy herself and her, in every way. Leaning in again, she whispered into one of those fuzzy ears, low but with a sultry and teasing huskiness. “I’ve seen those mags under your bunk, I know you’ve probably seen some things in there that you liked, or certain kinds of lack thereof. Maybe some kinky things with how spicey some of those covers were, you might even make the demoness blush if she were to see those.”

"THe fuck are you talking about?" Soap asked, actually confused now. "What magazines?" She didn't own anything of the sort. So either Olyv was pulling some shit again, or someone else was trying to pin something on her. And somehow she could hear a snicker in her head. "Oh that demon bitch." Soap growled as she realized what happened.

Sarah gave a deep sigh, “Well there goes my hope that you had a porn stash like any normal person for ideas.” She couldn’t decide if she was more disappointed on how much harder it made things, or that she seriously didn’t have anything she set aside private time with. Surely there was something she got herself off too, but getting that out of her was like pulling teeth. “Bitch indeed, for giving me false hope.”

"Sarah, I keep basically nothing for myself out of our earnings. Because I gotta keep the ship running." She said, explaining herself. "I don't have a Geist either, which makes getting things in the NDC a headache and a half, but I don't like the idea of getting cut upon more than I feel I need to get one." She said, though maybe she was wrong about the install. She didn't really care though. "I just don't really think about sex all that much is all. I got too many other things to worry about, and well, I don't exactly have good dreams."

“Bitch, I’m your girlfriend, make me your fodder for wet ones. If you aren’t thinking about yourself, guess what, that’s my job now. Demon skank may want to trick you into it, I want you to actually want and enjoy it. So prepared to be spoiled with all the naughty things you want, fuck I don’t care, get me a leash if that will get you off. Something please…” Sarah would have loudly put a hand to her face, exasperated by her lack of nutting material alone, but also her not even treating herself. “Yep, we’re going to be working on that starting tonight.”

"Oh lovely." Soap groaned, sighing. "Guess I ain't getting out of this am I?" She grumbled, though quickly adjusted her gaze as the intercom system pinged.

"Now arriving at Heliskyo Central Station. Now arriving at Heliskyo Central Station. Connections to local transit service, transcity transit services, and air traffic. Notice, routes to Okaiski are currently unavailable while Greenwich Tower is restructuring ATC Lanes. Thank you, and have a nice day."

"Guess that's our stop." Soap said, squirming out of Sarah's lap.

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The first shop they entered wasn’t anything overly fancy, a nice middle-class sort of clothing store that provided fairly fashionable clothing. Sarah had them even browse through the windows of a few potentials on their walk there, holding Soap’s hand the whole way as she focused on the examples of what the shops offered. This one had fit closest with the vibes of the basic things she was looking for at least, simple yet cute options that were still fairly practical as a consideration for her companion.

Other women were walking about, dressed fairly well, something that caused Soap to stick out like a sore thumb. Enough that a few gave some confused passing glances towards them, seeing the two extremes present hand in hand. Sarah ignored them however, more focused on finding what she was looking for as she toted the foxmod about the store with her. Scanning shelves and grabbing things as she did, it was a rollercoaster for Soap surely, before Sarah brought them both to a changing booth.

“Alright, come with me in here, and we’ll make sure this all fits. They even had a few good finds that I think will bring it all together, and will be so comfortable on you,” Sarah said with a pip in her pace now, excited to see the results of her hunt.

Soap rolled her eyes and took the pile of clothes into the changing room. "Sure sure..." She said as she did. "I'm sure they'll fit, you clearly know my measurements better than I do." She joked, closing the not quite door and putting the pile on the bench. She wasn't actually sure if Sarah actually knew her measurements, so the trying things on wasn't the wrong thing to do.

“Alright, then let's get you out of these,” Sarah said before helping Soap strip out of what she came in wearing. Once most of it was off, she paused to root around in her hand bag for something. “Now I wasn’t expecting to find anything to go with this when I brought it along, but… They had a heated sports style bra here, so it compliments quite well.” After a moment she withdrew a small box, before opening it and taking out a…. Buttplug? “It’s a heating one, gel outside too, so comfortable for longer use. I had one when I was in service, and they were a lifesaver. Obviously there are newer ones, so this one lasts a lot longer and keeps you warmer,” she quickly added, as if to clarify some misunderstanding.

Soap looked at what Sarah was presenting. "No." She said simply, flatly, and as if she had been greatly insulted by the idea of that appearance of that thing Sarah was now holding in her hands. "I am not sticking that up my ass, and you are not talking me into doing it right now. Or likely for a very long time." She explained, crossing her arms in defiance to the suggestion.

“Are you sure about that, I’ll even personally lube it for you?... Don’t you want to be warm?”, Sarah said teasingly, almost in a playfully taunting manner. She was hoping to try her hand at convincing, even if it took a few tries, before giving up on doing so that easily. Afterall, she had her’s in already, well not that she’d know that. “We can match, I already have mine in.~”

"Again, no." Soap said shaking her head. "If this was all an attempt to make me stuff my butt with that, then we can just head on back to the ship and get back to what we were doing." She continued, already turning to lean down and reach for her pants. Seriously, if Sarah was doing all this to just get her to put in a buttplug, she was going to be a very upset fox-mod. And while she didn't doubt that Sarah could probably keep up with her in a fight, she really didn't want to find out herself, or risk hurting Sarah.

Sarah looked mildly disappointed, whether about her answer, or the assumption of her intentions you couldn’t say. “Nice to hear you think so little of me for just trying to be persuasive, but whatever it’s fine. I’ll return it later, so you can stop getting dressed if you’re done trying to call me a liar. I am not Orias, or some sad manipulative bitch.” Perhaps she was letting that disappointment slip a little too much into actual anger slash annoyance, she really didn’t like people putting motives in her own, or calling her a liar. It was a bit of a touchy subject for the ex-sniper.

Dropping it back into her handbag, she paused for a moment, “I suppose you get dressed on your own, so I guess I’ll just go look around or something until you get it all on.” Sarah said as she got up to step out. She didn’t want to say outright that her feelings had been wounded by what felt like an accusation, but she felt like taking some steps away for a minute or two.

"I don't think so little of you, I just feel like you might have arranged this to do something of the sort. IF only to try and have some fun at my expense." She pointed out, reaching over and putting a hand on Sarah's arm as she spoke.

“You jumped straight to an assumption, that I was doing any of this for the worst possible reasons. I’ve never needed to have fun, at anyone’s expense, and generally I make suggestions to actually be helpful. It may seem like a joke, but despite seeming like a toy, it’s prevented me from getting hypothermia a few times.” She gave a released sigh, loosening some of her tension finally, having vented her frustrations. “I get it, it’s awkward and sexual in origin, but it’s not something I’m trying to force. If I wanted to introduce you to that kind of thing, we’d go to a proper adult store where you can explore that kind of stuff in the manner you decide. Gods dammit Soap, I care a hel of a lot about you, and I really want to help in whatever way I can. Just like I said when we started this relationship,” Sarah confided as she settled back down, probably blathering a bit as she sat back down on the bench in the booth.

"You'll have to forgive me then. I'm not used to people just helping me out of the blue like that. Not without doing whatever they can to force me into situations of their choosing that are rarely beneficial for me."

Sighing, she shook her head. "And considering things for us, I don't think we are that at risk of getting that cold. Not unless we go to that ice block Maelstrom. At which point, I ain't going out without 10 layers of thermals." She pointed out, smiling somewhat.

“Considering we run wherever they send us with cargo, it’s better to have then not to. That colony has been having trouble, so shipping is in high demand out there right now. Tortuga isn’t much better outside the trench, and Armora has mentioned a few places in the UNS that are pretty unbearable,” Sarah answered, almost visibly shivering at the thought, having been to a couple of the mentioned locales. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the cold, preferring to strip more layers then having to pile on more, plus it sucked for obvious reasons. “Afterall, that is why we came to buy your cold wear first, we can pick out stuff for any other fucked places we might go soon enough.”

The raven haired woman set the handbag back down, then began to pick up what had been picked out so far. “I tried to look for nice looking, but still fairly practical. I have confidence you’ll fit in it all nicely, and it will even make your closet look nicer by extension by them just being there.”

"Yes, but I'm still the one who decides what cargo we pick up, and I don't usually go for places like that. I'm not even sure the Shrine could handle those climates very well. Sure, it can handle space, and normal colds, but I can't be sure it'll handle colds like that actively sapping away the heating elements." She pointed out, taking the first of the outfit sets that Sarah had picked.

“Mom instincts still mean I’m going to buy it anyways, and you can’t stop me from spending my own money. So get spoiled,” Sarah tsked jokingly, mostly jokingly. She was going to spoil her anyways, filling her wardrobe was just the easiest excuse for her, currently. “And yes, that is all true, but it’s better to have and never use, then not and wish you did as the gods choose that rare moment to be crueler then usual.”

Said first outfit wasn’t anything too special, a turtleneck top, heated sports bra, thermal leggings, shorts, and knee high cold boots. A pair of gloves were of course included, but set aside as if to suggest that they would pair with other sets as well. Surprisingly enough, there was even a set of ear muffs and beanie tailored fox mod ear anatomy.

"I guess. Never understood the whole 'parental' thing." Soap said, shrugging like it really was a completely foreign concept. Which, to be fair, with her particular brand of 'fucked up' upbringing, was pretty apt. "I get how some could jive into it. Just seems like a whole lotta silly headache and trouble to me." Soap fully admitted as she looked over herself in the outfit. "This is... I mean... It's not bad, but not sure I feel like I can really do a whole lot with these things.

“What do you mean, they’re casual clothes for a reason, they’re just for being out and about. If you want something for exercise and activity. There’s a yoga outfit in there for that, which you can wear the bra and these leggings under easily.” Sarah pulled out the two items in questions, “They obviously wouldn’t be ideal for combat, but just being active is fine. We can look at proper gear somewhere later.” Seeing as she had already pulled them out, she set the yoga wear aside for the next in line to try on, before shifting through a few of the other items, separating out the spares of the bras and leggings, as well as a stack of panties that also matched with the sports bras.

"But why would I need clothes to be cas-.... No, not finishing that because I know you'll get onto a triad of how I need to broaden my horizons. Forgive me for focusing on my goal of getting fully independent and doing my own thing my own way for five years and so not really having the time, means, or awareness of how to do things like those who actually had lives at some point." She huffed, before eying the yoga outfit in question. "Is that supposed to be some kind of kink thing?" She asked, pointing to it. Yeah, she was aware of sports bras, having worn them for years, but she didn't really do much else in terms of underwear.

“Believe it or not, it’s an exercise thing, if admittedly it has been fetishized to an extent. By ugh horny men, but they are things people wear for exercise, yes. I’ve got my own, just not really enough room on the ship for full exercise other then short… and I mean very short, jogs. Now back to catching up to giving you a life, as your girlfriend spoils you like any normal one would… You grumpy cute bitch that I love.” There was a smirk to it as she said that, the jab being one meant to only teasingly annoy, as much as maybe frazzle her. “Also congrats on becoming independent, now you get to enjoy the things that come with it,” Sarah added with a giggle.

"I suppose." Soap said, shrugging as she looked over the outfit. "Also, are you sure about us getting all these underthings? Knowing a certain kleptomaniac on the ship?" She said, now gesturing to the underwear. As it was, she began to start peeling off the casual outfit that Sarah had assembled and she had tried on. "So, it ain't a fetish thing? It's actual clothing that ended up fetishized by people. Lovely. Still, I get the feeling Orias is going to be a lot more daring if she gets her chance." The fox mod groaned, thinking about the kind of things that Orias and those who followed her, with her sample size of two.

“I made a deal with our little thief, and gave her permission to freely raid my entire lingerie and underwear stock, as long as she doesn’t touch yours… well your new ones anyways.” Sarah waved a hand dismissively before taking back the removed articles, and neatly restacking them out of the way. “As for the demoness… Well, she has… a taste, and that’s about all I can say. Not much of a leather fan myself unless involving rugged pants for hoofing it through rough terrain. I like minimal as much as the next gal, but it's in that category of hidden secrets for those who deserve them. Otherwise, lingerie isn’t a surprise anymore.”

"Fair enough. If Olyv does however, I reserve the right to shoot her." Soap said confidently, and starting to pick up the yoga outfit and eye it like it was hazardous before giving a defeated sigh and starting to try and figure out how to squeeze herself into the flexible material. It wasn't exactly difficult, since there'd been plenty of times needed to put on pretty similarly tight kit for some mission or another they got dumped into during the training. But it was definitely in the 'strange' category in her mind in the fact it was two parts, not one full neck to toe and finger affair.

“I got one of a matching pattern to the set I wear, but in colors that more matched you. Now we’ll match at yoga and exercise sessions,” Sarah said with a pleased smile at seeing it fit like a proper glove. Looks like she eyeballed around the right size, and it fit rather well even to the foxmod’s more demure figure. “It’s insulated, it breathes, and very flexible”.

There was even a slight bit of camel going on, which didn’t escape the raven haired woman’s notice as she looked her over. A slight rose tint that was the only hint at her thoughts around that, before they broke the brief lingering on that fact. The exposed midriff was nice too, especially at Soap’s flat yet surprisingly athletically toned midsection. “Honestly with your build, you’ve already got the look of someone who’s run a few marathons in such an outfit,” Sarah added with a small chuckle.

Sophia twisted and turned somewhat to get a sense of how it fit, and well... It did fit nicely, and well, she barely felt it. "Huh. Guess I could probably even get away with wearing this in place of undergarments to get around our resident klepto." She said in amusement. "And it doesn't look all that bad." She admitted. Hearing her description, Sophia laughed. "I mean, partially hyper efficient digestive system to let us get away with either more food for muscle gain, or a lot less food to longer deployments and lack of resupply." She pointed out. "So I'm not likely to have too much change in my figure even if I gorged myself for a month or three."

Sarah grumbled something about cheat days, as she decided with an eye roll to sort out the next outfit. It wasn’t anything as cute as the first one, but something still just as casual, if actually a bit more on brand for Soap’s tastes. A fitted tank-top that would cover over the sports bra nicely even if still showing a slight bit of midriff, as well as a pair of what almost looked like skinny jeans save that they weren’t denim made up the main part of it. Similar boots as before were paired to match, a belt with pouches and hard cases included for more regular work use included. On top of this, was a pair of faux leather jackets with a fur lined collar, both a half jacket and full jacket.

“Well at least one of us can be spoiled with sweets and such, so be careful, I may just test the limits of how much it will keep that figure while I do,” Sarah teased, as she finished with this one, it having a few more things to it then the other two almost combined from before. “I figured it was only fair to include something you could actually work in too, since you’re such a stickler for being casual when you need to take a break.”

Quirking an eyebrow at the laid out, well, outfit, Soap shrugged. "I guess. Seems more space rogue or pirate of a look, but then I suppose I could probably be described as the former these days huh?" She said, and considering if she should put it on right now as is, or strip and put on the new outfit. The 'exercise' set seemed thin enough to fit underneath without too much difficulty, but she had a feeling Sarah would get... upset about that idea. "So, throw it on over, or strip?" She asked, letting the issue air itself.

She actually seemed a little surprised by the question, as if it hadn’t even crossed her mind. “Well.. As much as I would enjoy seeing my girlfriend stripping. I honestly figured you’d either keep that on under with how much you’ve liked it so far, so I hadn’t thought to even suggest otherwise. It would admittedly be kind of just a for me thing anyways.” Sarah gave a small shrug, “It’s your choice, I figured anything related would be save for more private arrangements anyways. I’m an easy fall to temptations from the right people, Soap”.

"I was just wondering if I should put the exercise outfit to the side or not missy." Soap pointed out, laughing at Sarah's reaction. Wow, she didn't get a lot of reactions out of the woman that were quite as surprised as this one. "As it is, it isn't like I've a lot of body shame to worry about, so dropping to skivvies isn't some horrible thing with you in here." She pointed out, already working on peeling off the exercise outfit, bending over in front of Sarah without being bothered in the slightest.

It wasn’t a very big changing room, so bending over in front of, was putting it generously. It was more like having it thrown back in her face, and she wasn’t going to complain, it got her… more then a bit stimulated. “Oh yes, I agree, far from horrible I’d say~,” Sarah let slip out, maybe a bit too loose with admitting that. “Some days, I almost wish I was as openly lustful as that demon slut. I have a bad habit of keeping it bottled in my pants.” With a small smile and sigh, passively enjoyed the unintentional show, even as the new clothes were slipped into.

Soap snorted. "I suppose that's a bit of a blessing then that you aren't." She said, pulling on the pants, jumping a bit to do so so she could fully slip in. "Crying out loud, get these tight enough?" She grumbled, not precisely happy with the amount of effort she was needing to put in to fit herself into the pants. "I'm worried I won't be able to get these off without a blade to cut me out."

“Oh, you’ll be fine, they just need to be worn in. They’ll stretch and loosen to your movements as you wear them. Besides, if they’re well fitted, they won’t get caught on anything.” Sarah said this after a short dry chuckle, before the motherly tone was given with the feint chastisement. Afterall, it was better then baggy, with a need of ad hoc adjustments. “It could have been worse. Besides, I even looked at a few things for warmer weather since we were already at it. Even thought you might look nice in a sundress,” she added, the last bit given with a small teasing chuckle.

"Ugh, no thanks. Don't want to be wearing something so flowy and loose like that." Soap said, shaking her head. "I may be female, but I ain't that lady-like." She stated pretty simply. It wasn't her thing. She was a combatant first and foremost, and she couldn't think of any way that a 'sundress' would help in that respect. Still, she'd finally got herself into the jeans, and was starting to pull on the midriff exposing shirt. "Feel like you're trying to hype me up or something." She mused with a confused expression as she tried to pull it down and found it wouldn't.

“Oh yes, gods forbid I find a woman attractive who doesn’t think that way about herself. So you’re a tight is right kind of gal, I’ll keep that in mind going forward.” Sarah chuckled again, amused by the foxmod’s groaning at the suggestion, but maybe a bit quietly disappointed by the denial of the idea. That was going to cut her list of summer ideas a bit shorter then she’d like, but she could work around that still hopefully. “It ain’t a matter of being lady-like, but comfort and appearance. I’d skimp in a tank and undies if I could, but it tends to be frowned upon. SO, I make due wearing nice-ish things that still feel comfortable to wear. Why I haven’t even bothered bringing up anything like lingerie.”

"I suppose that's a fair assessment." Soap replied to the other woman, pulling on the rest of the outfit. "I wouldn't go with 'tight is right'. I think it's fitting when needed, but not sure I want to fight my way into my clothing every time." She continued, shrugging into the full-length jacket. "And it's more like I just can't see myself doing those dresses and the like. It just seems like a waste of fabric to throw on me." She explained, not really sure how to expand upon it.

“If you look nice in it, then it did its job and therefore not a waste, all I’m saying. But if you wouldn’t wear it, there isn’t much of a point in getting stuff like that,” Sarah responded, being matter-of-fact slightly about it. Looking over her, the current outfit fit quite well, and almost made Soap look… dare she say it?.. Dashing even. Maybe the “swashbuckler” look suited her a bit too well, something that did make her giggle a tad at the thought. “I did say I’d spoil you, and I will. But it will be in a way that you accept and want, I’ll just maybe have to warm you up to some things over time at least.”

Soap sighed, twisting this way and that with the outfit on. "Jacket seems much..." She complained. She didn't mind having the place to stuff her hands into that wasn't her pants, especially with how tight said pants were, not much room for hands as well. There was just too much 'weight' from the sheer amount of leather used. "Pass me the half coat." She stated, while starting to shrug off the full jacket.

Sarah traded her jackets, before slipping the full one on herself to try it on, and finding it a comfortable weight herself. “I’ll keep this one then, probably even if you don’t like that one. It’s nice and warm with some heft, kind of like a weighted blanket,” she admitted while Soap slipped into the much shorter version of the same jacket.

"Maybe, but it's heavier than I'd care for from a jacket." Soap explained, pulling on the one. It did little to help cover her midriff, in fact, doing more to emphasize it than disguise it. "God not having pockets will suck with this look." She grumbled, much more pleased with the jacket, if only because there being less leather meant it was not nearly as heavy on her shoulders and back. Trying to move that much weight, was always a fight of inertia. This was more her speed. And yes, she got the humor of the joke.

"Still can't believe you're just giving me your woobie." She muttered, now looking at herself in the mirror.

“Well count yourself as lucky for getting a unicorn of a deal. How’s that jacket though? Good fit?” Sarah craned her neck a little to try and get a good look at the mirror view. “Hmm, it does, but it feels like it's missing something, but I can’t put my finger on what,” she offered, thoughtfully putting a finger to her chin to think on what was indeed missing. Her first instinct said some sort of neck item, or possibly something else. “Maybe a cap and necklace, or choker?”

"Wish it was longer, if only so I could have pockets to use, but I don't want to be weighed down by all that leather." She said, shrugging in a very lazy fashion. "Otherwise, it's good enough." She finished with a nod. "And why those?" She asked, turning to look at Sarah's face as she did, a bit of a knitting of her eyebrows occurring in the process.

“Wish I could say precisely, maybe because they’d fit the look more in a hard working woman way? It always feels like that’s the vibe you give off, and full combo while casual, just feels like it would solidify that vibe better visually.” Sarah admitted earnestly, now thinking on just what kind of cap would work best, or which of the two neck items would also be better. Currently she was leaning far more towards choker, being as it was simple, and no frills, plus she could think of an idea that would almost make it functional. Snapping her fingers as if in epiphany, “The choker definitely, and it could have one of those throat mic kits in it to make it fit the style, functional, and useful” she said with a pleased with herself smile.

"Huh. Okay. I suppose that's fair. And is this supposed to be a dig at me not having a Geist?" She asked, giving Sarah a lopsided smirk as she did since it wasn't like she was actually thinking of getting one, and oh yeah, just about all the NDC people she had on board did. Meant she was a little slower on the data intake than the rest, but eh... She still wasn't sure about getting cut open to plug the damned thing in. "But a throat mic isn't a bad idea. And it would keep it functional without me needing to fiddle with the radio while doing so."

“As for the cap, I would say two-tone, but a solid single color might be better. Maybe even a FDE tan, or matching color to the leather,” Sarah said with a small smirk, glossing over the joking accusation. “They’re nice, but you lose a lot of that tactile feel of working with something physical, the health system is probably the biggest bonus if anything. Get a small cut and it’s gone in less then an hour, shit I wish we had back then. Maybe I’d have a few less scars then.” The last bit was given with a small chuckle as the woman sat back down on the bench, and looked to see if there was anything left even.

In short, there wasn’t, the store had some good finds but not enough for a whole fashion show. With a small bit of disappointment, the first stop had been good, if albeit shorter then she’d hoped. “Seems we’ve hit the end of finds for this shop.”

"Huh. Surprised by that. Honestly expected you to have me try on like a dozen different things in here." Soap snarked, grinning. "And myself, I just don't feel like getting cut open again. So I'll accept being slow on data by punching in it all manually." She said, nodding. She didn't really have much to comment on the colors, since it wasn't like she could really say she understand 'fashion' or 'style'. She just kept things pretty simple and admittedly, a bit mishmashed with how she handled it.

"Whelp, guess I should get this outfit ready to be paid for." She said, not at all realizing she could just hand over the tags and wear it out.

“We’ll ring it, or even the other one if you want to wear either now, yoga wear too if you want the extra layer. Would be good for getting used to them while we look for another shop,” Sarah offered, neatly gathering up all the other things they had grabbed. Also silently eager to toss the hobo clothes.

"Wait, you can do that?" Soap asked, turning to Sarah in surprise. "I thought you had to put it all on the counter to be scanned..." She said, thinking about it. But then again, her surplus kit didn't really *need* her to wear it out... When she'd notice the old utilities were getting worn to the point of failure, she just hit a surplus store and picked up more, not really caring about pattern or environment. Though admittedly she focused almost exclusively on half/half cotton/nylon blend because it was that perfect level of airy for heat, but thick for cold.

“As long as you pay for it, they don’t care, also can we ditch the old stuff?” Sarah was already plotting a quick pyre for them in a barrel somewhere, even though she wouldn’t be so openly dramatic about it. “But, yes. You can just go to a clothing store, and walk out in the clothes you buy, because they understand that’s usually what you’re there for. Plus you know, the occasional emergency where something got ruined and needs a quick replacement.”

Gathering the tags quickly for what she was wearing, the rest was picked up as Sarah began leading to the counter to purchase everything. One of the staff who had seen the two come in, actually tripped with a double take as they caught sight of Soap coming out. Recovering quickly to scamper off before they were caught having said reaction.

"Why? The old stuff's still good. I've got another year of life left in them." Soap said, narrowing her eyes at Sarah's question. Still, she followed the other woman to the counter, having caught the staff's reaction and not really bothered or considering it. She wouldn't have believed she'd been the one to go into a changing room and come out looking so different either. "And that's with me working the fabric hard with all the stuff we still have to do to keep the ship functional."

There was something to be said about stuff you weren't so worried about getting ruined while working on stuff like some of the issues the ship regularly had come up.

“Because they make clothes specifically for working around places like a ship, I’ll buy you a set of sturdy jumpsuits if I need to. At least they won’t get fabric caught in things, and they don’t look like they were donated for charity to the homeless. Then they’ll last many years, versus wearing them until they tear.” Sarah sighed, finding the baggy things horrible, not even from a style point of view, but just how terribly fitted they were. “I haven’t even introduced you to the joy of fleece sleep pants, with slippers even, for when you cozy for sleep and morning coffee. You are missing so much, getting to enjoy the little things, instead of everything just being replaceable until it can’t be used anymore.”

"I mean, I go to the ones that are tailored more towards genemods. Meaning we're pretty standardized. There's some minor variations, or the surprise twists, but otherwise, we're pretty well standardized for utilities." Soap pointed out, meaning that they were reasonably fitted for genemods anyways, since there wasn't much need for various sizes. "And let's not bring up the fact that was kind of what I was back on Hassan? At least I'm still alive right now. I wouldn't have gotten that had I gotten deployed." She grumbled, once more thinking about the fact that she'd had a ticking time bomb in her head for only 2 years of service before POP went her head to prevent her from deciding to defect.

“Hassan’s a dead world now because of behavior like that, in treating people like genemods as nothing but that. That war and world are over, we’re not there anymore, so no one said you couldn’t start living. You’re already living for yourself, so why not go all the way and enjoy it,” Sarah counter argued. She didn’t want to state the obvious either, that if she had been deployed, there had always been a chance the two of them would have met as enemies. Or worse, killed each other during the war… Sarah, after all, had received training courses on fighting genemods, including foxmods.

Just because she had been taught how to kill them, didn’t mean she viewed them any less then any other person. “It wasn’t much better for those of us who were deployed, and I’m glad you weren’t, we could have met very differently…”

Soap shrugged, not really upset with what Sarah had said, just admitted her own uncaring view of the matter. The clerk at the counter tried very hard to focus on scanning the tags while the two talked. "Just saying how it was. I haven't the foggiest how other countries treated their's, I just know we were tools to be used and abused until broken." She pointed out, sighing. "And it wasn't like there was anyone wanting to try and keep a distraught, literally itching to tear into some poor fucker's neck foxmod around for 'intergration' classes and such. At least not that I could immediately tell when they unfroze me. They kind of let me grab my things, and go, and that was that."

“Because the point was that everyone was now, regardless of anything else, home for better or worse. You were probably already logged as a citizen the moment they scanned the pod’s registration. I’d like to think it was less a matter of integration, as much as acclamation.” Sarah couldn’t rightly say what the general thawing process had been like, as her own had been very different to those of the majority who were thawed after. “Sounds like you walked away before even ever giving things a chance to be different,” she put kind of flatly, but not in any sort of judging way, but just stating the observation.

She looked at the total and set down the script, before carrying the bag of the rest for Soap. “You’ve carved out this freedom and work, but what will you do with it in the long run? Have you even thought ahead to anything around, or after it? Surely there is something you want out of all this,” Sarah asked as the two were now stepping out.

"I'm doing my own thing, I'm not some cog in the military machine, and I'm not completely beholden to any one government." Soap said, shrugging as they stepped out of the store. "Which, honestly, is far more than I could have hoped to have before. Or even dreamed about with any chance of it being real. Now it is. And all I want to do is keep the Shrine flying and keeping out of the crosshairs of those who would take it from me." She pointed out, intentionally having ignored the point about her not giving things a chance. It wasn't like Sarah was wrong, but Soap had literally just been ready to kill the first human she saw upon waking up from Cryo, and being asked if she was the 'ranking officer' in the batch had put her on edge to no end. So, she'd gotten onto the streets and started figuring out work for herself.

The raven haired woman seemed almost, split on how she felt about that answer, and unsure on how to work the topic around it. “Haven’t you thought about maybe making somewhere home? Anywhere, somewhere even for the Shrine to rest when needed, and at some point in the future when you will too more permanently?” Sarah’s brow furrowed slightly, trying to gauge how far if at all, that Soap had thought things through. Even if only in ideas alone, because surely she had even a little bit right?

"Sure, but so far ain't really felt like any one place was right." Soap replied, looking over at Sarah. "Why? You already thinking of jumping ship cause tired of dealing with my grouchy ass?"

“No, but I guess I am worried that you haven’t set somewhere aside as a sort of safe haven for when you need it. Sure the Shrine is home, but it’s kind of like an RV, it can only offer so much with always being on the move. Somewhere stable, consistent, and as comfortable as you can make it.” She knew it was just a joke, but something about leaving felt like an action she’d only regret later, not that she had any reason to. “Also your ass may be grouchy, but it is quite a cute ass. Also with you starting to look the part of a smuggler queen of the shipping lanes, I guess said place would be a lavished hideout in your case,” Sarah offered back, trying to vibe back on the prior joke to keep things at least somewhat upbeat.

"I get that, but the only places we've seen are all NDC colony worlds, unless you want to risk the wilds of Sanctuary. Tortuga wouldn't be a good spot with how its criminal elements can get stupid and I really have no interest in upsetting the Table there defending what's mine. And the UNS is... not someplace I'd call home, even if they don't see us as anything other than oddities from the space lanes." Sophia explained bringing up three fingers and pushing one down at each point. "And it's mostly cause I really don't get that woogy magic stuff." She added on top.

“Who said it had to be anywhere settled? Admittedly, the open regions of a colony would likely be safest, I suppose an unstaked world would also do,” Sarah seemed to pose idly as she looked over the other stores they were starting to pass again. A lot of those closest seemed a bit too particular, and one far down the way almost glared a little too familiarly, likely one of the outlets of the demoness. That was one the duo would likely avoid, unless Soap by some miracle showed interest.

Finding none of the current options to stand out quite as boldly as their first, chose to simply ask, “Is there anything you’d like to look for or even try? Would help me pick our next stop, unless you’d like to pick one”.

As the pair walked the street in front of the stores, she was more keeping an eye on the people around them than on the stores themselves. "Not sure honestly. Don't get me wrong, some of the NDC worlds are nice, as are the UNS worlds. But I'm just not sure I want to set down stakes for any real length of time with how these colonies are growing, and most of the real hunks of business for us tend to be near the spaceports, meaning usually pretty well packed unless they got a decent planetary network to facilitate communications." She quickly snapped her hand out and grabbed a rather grubby-dressed kid's hand. Which was awfully close to her ass. "Don't even think about it if you want to keep that hand kid." She said, letting go with a small throw to get him stumbling away.

Sarah eyed the kid as they staggered then scampered off, before looking about for anyone possibly associated. Letting the interruption pass, she returned to the topic they were discussing, “Well the point would be for when breaks from said work are needed. So preferably some place far from work, figuratively, and with a ship, it could even be another continent over. Also as a place to build our own private storage, then maybe we could look at running our own acquired goods when we want slower paced work.”

"What, thinking of turning us into farmers or miners? Or something of the sort?" Soap asked while looking over at Sarah. "Can't say I would go crazy with the work, owing I spend weeks on end on the ship going from point to point anyways." She remarked, shrugging. "So I guess it'd be much the same just of a different sort. Unless you've got other thoughts? Since we don't' really need our own personal storage slot unless we're starting to build up stocks on stuff from failed jobs."

“Supplies, odds and ends, fuel, spoils of interesting acquisitions, or even just stashing the occasional lucky thing to fall off a truck. We could save on repairs, restock, and expenses of having to rely on running the ship all the time. As for farming or mining, there are drones for that sort of thing, unless you suddenly have the urge to play settlement mayor.” The last part was given with a giggle, perhaps a few too many twinkles of the eyes as she listed off some things. Perhaps having a hideaway of sorts was exciting to her, or even just the practicality of having a place to hide things. “Besides, you may be used to it, but the rest of your crew is not so used to being cooked up in a ship all the time,” Sarah added, light heartedly, but maybe a little pointedly in emphasis.

"Maybe. But I imagine we'll get used to it as a group considering things." She said, snorting slightly. "Heavens now I wasn't at first, but I figured out how to cope. WAsn't probably 'healthy' coping, but it was coping." She continued, habitually trying to stuff her hands into her pockets.... And remembering she effectively didn't have any as she did, so she just huffed and crossed her arms. "Stupid lack of pockets..."

Sarah kind of frowned at that, if only slightly. “That’s not really a given, or really should be an expectation, as only two of us are mods. You guys were programmed to more naturally accept it. Humans, and whatever Caite is again, are not built that way. It’s also a lot more detrimental to the bone structures of un-enhanced people, it just takes a lot longer to be a problem with enhanced structures. Something about the less or off vibrations of artificial gravity eventually playing havoc with how your bones adapt to the density of gravitational forces?”

However, she also took on a smirk at the reaction of lacking her usual pockets. “You know, you can always slide your hands into mine if they’re cold~,” Sarah slyly offered with a wink as she leaned in close, and a bit lower. “Girlfriend privileges of course.”

Soap rolled her eyes at Sarah. "I think you're the only one saying we're 'girlfriends' like it's some kind of fancy relationship right now." She pointed out with a snort. "It's more I just stick my hands in my pockets to keep them from swaying all over the place." She explained, sighing. "Not because their cold. I just don't like swinging my arms back and forth like I'm marching in step again."

“Fair enough I suppose,” Sarah said with a sigh before continuing to walk. Getting back to looking across the storefronts to set aside her disappointment at the first statement. If she had to admit, the response was actually a bit aggravating personally. “SO, did you give any thought to what you wanted to look for next?”

"Not really. I mean, this was more your idea than mine. You clearly feel I don't dress properly or somesuch. Though you had mentioned either a cap and or choker in that last store." Sophia said, as well as pointed out. "And sorry for upsetting you?" She said, considering that heavy sigh wasn't the first Sarah had today, and somehow the foxmod was pretty sure it was going to be repeated more than a few times at this rate.

“You get used to it when you’re the only one who treats anything as more then superficial,” was all Sarah said, a hand laid on her hip to rest. “Those are both easy to get, but would be hardly a stop for just two little things alone. Or much of an outing if not making the most of it.” Looking at one of the nearby shops, they had a selection of fine dresses of various styles in the window, but she shook her head, reminding herself this wasn’t a trip for herself and Soap would likely claw her eyes out then be put in one. More and more it was starting to feel like a herculean task to find anywhere suitable for her companion.

“Maybe hoodies, or something formal for contracts, hmm… Swimwear? T-shirts and shorts?”, Sarah began to idly mumble to herself in thought as she tried to formulate some options to try at least.

Soap shrugged, this time in a non-committal fashion, really not sure what Sarah was looking for, much less what she thought the fox needed. She'd never gotten trouble with the things she'd worn before, but then again, most of the time she was picking up odd contracts on Sirris while saving up what she needed to get her ship and thus get herself on her own life on her own terms. "I guess?" She said, to add verbal to the gesture since she wasn't sure that Sarah had noticed, owing she was looking at the shops instead of her. Had she been someone more 'normal', she might have felt slighted by that, but as it was, Soap wasn't bothered in the least in the lack of attention to herself.

The woman simply took Soap’s hand before steering them towards the nest shop, having taken the answer as a confirmation. Coming in, it was a fairly general clothing store, not quite as focused on style as the last place was. Moving around, Sarah seemed to drift here and there, picking things from shelves. Most of it pretty average in terms of looks, as it was clear Soap didn’t really care for anything fancy. Coming back with a stack, it was off to the dressing room again, for the repeat of the song and dance.

“I just got an assortment of things this time, to just have you see what feels comfortable. Shorts, t-shirts, a few hoodies, some more general use leggings, A couple types of swimsuits, and even a pair of tennis shoes I forgot to look for at the last place to go with the yoga wear.” Sarah laid some of it out into outfits, with a couple things just being on their own as individual try ons. “I guess just pick whatever you want to try first, and we’ll go from there,” she said, gesturing to the selection.

Soap blinked, seeing a lot more clothes on the offering this time around. Nearly triple the last set... But then again, it'd only been three outfits at the last place. Did most people usually have this much variety in their clothes? "Uhhh... Okay..." She said, trying to think about what to go with first, cause she was completely lost. The variety and apparent 'randomness' of it all was kind of overwhelming in its own way. "Erm...." She groaned. Heavens, picking a target from a mass of enemy forces was fucking easier than this!

“How about the hoodies since you don’t need to take much off for those. They’re full, and with zipper, both in black or green for you. Also I got this to at least knock off one of things you needed,” Sarah suggested idly, before picking up an olive green cap with foxmod ear cut outs, and gently just setting it on Soap’s noggin. “Try not to squirm too hard, stress will give you wrinkles.”

"Sorry, just... Combat ops are a lot easier than this stuff." Soap admitted, sighing herself this time, before settling the cap more naturally on her head, ears sticking up and out through the holes. Grabbing one of the hoodies, she got it unzipped pretty quickly, and pull the not quite neon, definitely more like a rich woody green but still overly bright in tone, hoodie on, and realized it didn't quite work with the jacket, so pulled off the hoodie and then the jacket to put the hoodie back on. It didn't look bad on her, and honestly, if she wasn't as frumpy as she usually was, the thing would have looked out of place on her figure.

“Looks good, both of them, now try the one without the zipper to see if you like it. The one with zipper will hug a little, but the ones without are going to be just slightly more loose. See if you like one or the other, or both styles,” Sarah only offered, taking in the results of the fit before her suggested direction.

Sophia shrugged a moment, not sure how to feel about it worn on her figure. But then again, it wasn't like it was sitting 'wrong' either. Just, not in a way she was used to. Still, she guessed Sarah had something in mind with her, and so unzipped the hoodie and handed it over, and taking the one that... Oh, it was a pull over. So, struggling with it a few moments, making some rather fox-like grunting noises in the point, Sarah was sure she even heard a muted 'yip' as she got an ear stuck a little stiffly while trying to pull it on properly.

The raven haired woman got up, holding back a chuckle as she helped Soap right the hoodie. Once it was on, she decided to pull the hood up on this one to see if they fit, seeing as the foxmod hadn’t tried the one on the zip up. There were two sort of mini pockets that went over her ears as it was slid on. Admittedly, she looked kind of cute like this, cap on with the hood on over it and her ears. Not that her noises prior were any less cute.

“Seems like it fits well, comfortable?” Turning around, she looked for what to try next, seeing as that was about it for the easy changes.

"Once I stopped getting my ear caught in the damned sleeve..." Soap muttered, holding up her right arm to glare at the offending sleeve in question. "Yeah, it is comfy. Also not itchy as fuck as the pull over winter wear we had to throw on in training..." She admitted, sighing, realizing the admission being what it was. Maybe civvies had something going for them.

“They’re good for sleeping in, the pull overs. I think trying the leggings, with shorts and t-shirts next might be good, seeing as you’ll need to take off everything for the swimwear. There’s breathable sports shorts, cargos, and denim shorts. The shirts are short sleeve, or long sleeve.” Sarah smiled a little bit at the admission, but gave her the dignity of not calling on it, before picking up one of the tights as she considered which to pair with them first. “We’ll work from most casual to least, so how about these denim shorts, and a short sleeve shirt?”

"Sure?" Soap said, trying to think of how that could even work as an outfit... but she supposed Sarah knew better than she. It just all felt so silly. Why go through so much effort after all? IT was all just clothes, and she was sure this stuff wouldn't hold up half the time with what they did. Sarah said it was meant as 'casual' wear, but Soap was either working on something on the ship, reviewing some aspect of their route or job, or tallying their supplies and consumption of same.She wasn't really one with a lot of 'free time' like others on the ship, since she had to be the one keeping them fed and paid.

Sarah simply handed them over, well aware, but feeling the wardrobe revival to be more important. She wasn’t here to have a debate or argument with the foxmod, but to open her horizons to the things she was ignoring that she lacked.

Sighing, not quite in defeat, but in acceptance, she began to pull the hoodie off. Which thankfully was much easier than pulling it on. OF course, it took the cap with it, so she had to pull it out from the inside in the process. That done, she put the items onto the 'tried' pile that was now three items large. And started to pull off her clothes. Thankfully she didn't need to ditch the panties or sports bra she wore as matter of course, and began to work on the offerings Sarah presented for this outfit. That was probably something else Sarah was going to have to get Soap exposed to... more varied underwear.

First was the leggings, easy enough to slip into with a little bit of work, and snug to her lower body. Then it was the shorts and t-shirt being slipped on, then bottomed off with the tennis shoes. Sarah helped where it was needed, as little as that was, watching as the ensemble took shape over Soap’s figure.

As it all came on, Sophia had the look of not quite disdain at the shoes. She rather liked her combat boots. They were comfy and happened to have enough weight to them that people she kicked with them most definitely felt it. Excluding a specific demon woman that Soap had no interest in humoring with even her name in her head right now. "Do I gotta?" She asked, holding up one of the tennis shoes and waggling it around like some kind of wild animal she'd picked up and wasn't sure if it was safe to touch.

“As much as I agree that boots are all around nice, these are more comfortable for just walking around on off time, and breathable for exercise. Less foot odor after a workout, and easier to slip on and off. Just try them please,” Sarah said in that motherly almost chastising tone again. “You can freely bitch after trying things at least once.”

"Fiiiiiine." Soap groaned, and started pulling the 'offensive' footwear on. She just liked her boots. Though, at least these weren't those heeled horrors she'd seen some people wear. She had no clue how anyone could wear those and feel comfortable. They just seemed so impractical. Almost painful actually. Still, she had them on, and honestly, was glad they were monochromatic white. So they weren't painful on the eyes either. Giving a few steps in them, she grunted, and sighed. She felt like she was liable to twist her ankle just by walking because there was nothing to keep her ankles from randomly shifting out of line. Then there was just how light they were. She had nothing helping pull her down.

“Well, how does it all feel,” Sarah asked expectantly, waiting to hear the foxmod’s thoughts about the outfit. She got an idea from her expression on the shoes, and was certain they were fairly a miss for Soap. Here was hoping at least some of the rest of the outfit at least pleased her.

"I mean, I'm worried I'll twist my ankle in these shoes... Plus I don't know if I like how light they are." She said, sighing. "As for the rest, I mean, it's not bad. I feel kind of silly dressing like this though. Like, I'm not really meant to be so... so..." She was struggling to think of the words or terms that would be describe her feelings in this situation. It felt wrong to be dressed like this, as though she was trying to be something she wasn't... But she wasn't a soldier anymore, was she?

“Well I can kinda fix the second half of that with the shoes. I can put weighted inserts in the soles so they’re heavier if that might help? As for feeling strange, I have a pretty good notion on what you mean. But you aren’t a soldier anymore, neither of us are…” Sarah put a gentle hand on the foxmod’s shoulder, a small pat given with it in reassurance. “It will take some time, but this is unfortunately to a degree, our new normal. The best we can do playing soldiers these days is being a mercenary, and even then there’s no uniform for that unless we gave up the independent lifestyle,” Sarah added further, explaining her own thoughts on that similar feeling.

"Yeah, no, not interested in signing up with some group and losing my ability to decide my own fate. To chart my own path and live with the consequences. Instead of just getting told to do things and have those consequences shoved upon me." Soap declared firmly. "And I'll stick to boots when I can." She said, shaking her head at the range of movement she had with the damned things. It would take just a damned bad rock or sidewalk to twist her ankle hard.

Sarah seemed to consider that sentiment for a bit, “Maybe hiking boots then, they tend to be all terrain, but still made with comfort in mind”. All in all, she had been running on practical but cute, finding the latter to be a far stronger accentuation for the foxmod then sexy was. Partly from her attitude, partly from her figure, but all in all sexy just wasn’t the correct vibe in general with her Sarah felt. “I know we bought PJs, but I’m also starting to think, a few loose t-shirts of larger size and comfortable but cute panties should be an addition. Comfortable for R&R days, or lounging around, which I need to make sure you do more of for mental health reasons. Not without something to do…”

There was a very faint grimace from giving it even deeper thought, finding the task an increasingly rabbit hole endeavor. “For you, books, which if I recall you tend to read often already? Maybe we can hit up a bookstore, or even some music shops while we’re at it?”, the raven haired woman offered as an idea to go with her plan. It was either they stagnated in debate, or the train of planning was kept going at full steam, hopefully before Soap could argue against too much.

"Books do be cheap, reusable entertainment. Though I'm surprised there's as many physical books in the NDC as there is. That cause of the flying lizards?" She asked. "As for music, what're you recommending? I am completely shite with the whole genre thing. I just listen to stuff that I enjoy, whatever it might be. Mostly stuff I can kind of hum along to." She added, not really sure how else to explain her tastes.

“Production choice, as while we have the network out to the colonies, electronics and computers tend to not be as high quality. Mostly due to high end goods from the capital taking time from transit, then distribution, so most rely on locally produced goods. Physical copies of even modern literature are fairly common out here, especially those who travel.” Sarah explained this as they looked for some of said shops, having not even addressed music yet. That one was not really one she could answer persay, and it would just come down to a matter of letting Soap listen through the display samples to find some she liked.

Thinking about it, yeah that was more then likely the best way to go about it honestly. “As for music, they have players in the displays usually to sample demos of tracks. So just browse and listen, see if anything tickles your ear fluff,” the raven haired woman offered, a small smile at the comment of her ears.

"Ear fluff? Really?" Soap said, rolling her eyes at the glib quip. "Making me think I oughta give you some and tickle you with them." She shot back, grinning. "As it is, hopefully they have some headsets I can wear properly. I can't exactly use the humo-form ones." She said, gesturing to the sides of her head, and the distinct lack of ears there. She'd met some genemods who had more human-like ears since they didn't have really 'alternate' hearing arrangement, such as Soap had. Since her ears *technically* rode atop her head.

“Hey now, don’t threaten me with a cute time, you might get me to start girlishly giggling,” Sarah joked back, feigning mock shyness. But jokes aside, she patted the captain on the shoulder good naturedly, “Fox mods are common enough, there’s chance. Can’t say for sure until we look, so browse to your heart's content, go ham girl i’m spoiling.” It was nice to have her openly joking back, and even a smile, what a miracle. It was good progress all in all, hopefully they’d only see more through the night, and a long one was looking to be ahead of them.

"You mean you aren't usually giggling like a little girl?" Soap joked back. Seriously, once Sarah started treating Soap like a fellow soldier, at least with the jokes, Soap seemed to fall more naturally into the whole thing. It was pretty clear despite her time out of the freezer, she was still extremely uncomfortable with being 'not' military of some sort. "And I'm not sure I'm gonna pick up a whole lot. Not really sure what to go with for the music. Though at least with books I trend towards the fiction stuff."

“Science-fiction, fantasy, alternate historical, pseudo modern,.... Detective stories or something? What’s your flavor of fiction specifically, or just any of it?”, Sarah asked as they came upon a bookstore. Walking in together, it smelled of old pages, and printed covers. A smell that almost always managed to instill nostalgia, even if for no particular reason, or particular memory. It was a cozy smell and sensation, something that would have only been enhanced by coffee or tea joining the mix, or for her personally… The smell of a fresh cigarette lazily wisping in a nearby ashtray while she read. “Shamefully, I’m a sucker for romance and the saucier novels, or good military stories, fictional or not.”

"Psuedo-modern I guess? Stuff based on modern stuff, but otherwise I'm pretty varied. I get weird about reading military fiction though. Mostly because it just feels... wrong." She said, shrugging. "Like I shouldn't be enjoying stories that touched so closely to my own life." She clarified, while walking towards the shelves and starting to look things over. "And I get a snort every time I read a synopsis on those sci-fi novels and they all sound like unnatural utopia's."

“Welcome to literary escapism, and most of those military themed ones aren’t written for us, but normal civies to live vicariously through. Military life wasn’t nearly as exciting as some of those books make it out to be, hell they cut out the hurry up and wait, that seventy five percent of it tends to be.” Sarah only idly browsed the books herself, looking over covers, a gentle finger running over the different sized tops. “You know, I think you’d enjoy romance and the saucy novels I read, but only because I think you’d find them hilariously stupid,” she added with a small smirk as her prodding of the shelves continued.

"Not sure I'd be one for romance or saucy. But what the hell. Got any you know are more comedy, unintentionally at least?" She asked, while picking up one that had what felt like a decent title. Then blanched at the synopsis, and put it back. "Ugh, no thanks, I do not want to read someone's 'true story' of the fucking Zoo. I have no interest in reading someone's off-based depiction of that damned hell hole."

Sarah made a thoughtful hum as she looked over the shelves now more intently, looking for something familiar and particular. “Ah!”, she exclaimed as she found a copy of what she was looking for with a mischievous giggle. “Fifty Blade of Gay, and trust me, it's as stupid as it sounds. A whole series from this one book, and it only landslides to increasingly funny levels of dumb,” she offered before handing the book over for Soap’s perusal, the cover being extremely simplistic in nature.

“It’s about a woman who builds a fake harem of men who fall for her, and uses them to take over some kingdom for her, then rule it. All while secretly having a lesbian love affair on the side with the woman she actually loves, and the witch who gave her the charm to fool all of said men with. They originally wrote her and the story well, and her being humbly clever, but towards the end they just start whiplashing her to being egotistical and haughty in attitude.” The raven haired woman was trying not to laugh just thinking about it from when she read it herself, as she explained it to her girlfriend with a somewhat straight face.

"Wow, and you said they got a whole fucking series out of it?" Soap said, laughing at just the description alone. "What, the author go on an ego trip or something?" She asked, taking the book and reading the back as she spoke. Her tails swayed behind her in a fairly calm fashion.

Sarah was pleased to see the interest, “More like stretching it for the income it was bringing in, and doing just well enough to not make it worse then it started too soon. Lot of people also think maybe they just wanted an excuse to write more about the lesbian characters being steamy. Fanfic levels of obsession if you ask me.” A small chuckle escaped her as she pulled down a couple other of the volumes, happy to sort of reminisce about it, the follow up snort came with a lighthearted shake of the head. “Sometimes I wonder if I was just desperate for entertainment to have read these.”

Sophia snorted, then laughed. "Well, alright then." She said, shaking her head. "I guess I'll have to give it a read at some point then. Any other recommendations? Also, we should probably add some more movies to the ship's library. If only to get more variety in everyone's palette. I think what we've got on board is already getting stale for our UNS friends who have to watch with subtitles on the whole time. Which reminds me, we should probably pick up some UNS films next time we're out that way."

“Yeeeaaahh, not sure what any of those even look like, or how their films compare to ours. So we’ll need to grab an expert on them,” Sarah admitted idly, as the two continued their foray into trashy novels and films. The two women spent a few more hours giggling and snickering at the inane and occasionally tasteful find under an unassuming cover.