Caelus Online

59. The Price of a Designer Wardrobe

Aurora rolled her eyes as she let Roxanne guide her out from the dressing rooms to stand before the rest of their group who were all giving vigorous nods to indicate their approval.

“Man, you are going to have so many people hitting on you when you look like that, and we are already down one man to keep an eye on the ladies!”

Ben exhaustedly threw his hands into the air as he slumped back into the seat, earning amused gases from Marie and Roxanne.

“Well, knowing you, you would enjoy the chance to get one of those pushy guys to back off before Aurora slugs him, getting a chance to look cool in the process.”

The redhead looked at Ben with a raised eyebrow and a teasing smirk, hinting at how Ben usually acted on a night out while Marie shook her head.

“God, I can only shake my head thinking about how many fights will break out if we go somewhere on the rougher side… I guess we should probably stick to our usual spots in Soho.”

With a wave of his hand, Ben let out a laugh.

“You guys worry too much. Anyway, Aurora, I for one say yes to the dress.”

Roxanne who fully understood the reference gave Ben a deadpan look before turning back to Aurora.

“They have one of these dresses in black, and if you liked it, I was going to get one as well, that way we will match when we are out!”

A small smile graced Aurora's lips as she realised that this was another of Roxanne’s attempts to make her more comfortable with all these massive changes, something that she deeply appreciated.

“Well, since everyone likes it, I guess that’s that then. This is a definite keep!”

With a slight giggle, Roxanne guided her back into the changing rooms after picking another outfit the personal shoppers had put together, whispering into her ear as they were out of sight.

“Well, you made quite the jump, going from buff princess to gorgeous princess, huh?”

Aurora could only roll her eyes at Roxanne’s teasing but took a moment to appreciate herself in the mirror. The reactions from everyone were exceedingly positive, the exact same as hers, although she noted the way Ben was still appreciating her looks.

This was the first time he had seen her properly dressing up, and it seemed to Aurora that it had fully clicked in Ben's mind that she was now in fact a woman, while previously in her office he still seemed a little baffled with the sudden conformation unlike now.

It could be said that she had dressed up before in front of him when they went shopping in Haligrad, however, there was still that disconnect that being inside a ‘game’ brought with it. Now back in reality, with no sort of disconnect, what he saw was the pure truth.

She didn’t know how much this would change their relationship, but she was certain that he would not make any romantic moves on her. He had expressed before that the whole idea of dating someone transgender would weird him out, and while her situation was quite different, the principal was the same. That's not to mention that they would both feel weird since it would be like making moves on a family member, and neither of them had that sort of kink.

Knowing Ben and seeing how he was acting; he would shift more towards a mix of their past relationship where they were like family and how he acted around his own sister. As Marie and Roxanne had just said, he would always look out for the women in the group whenever they would go out, and she could easily picture their relationship changing in that direction, even if she was usually by Ben's side on such occasions.

What freaked her out about the situation was not so much that Ben was looking at her as the woman she had become, but the fact that the subtle shift in their relationship once again drove home another change in her life that had been until now, unchanging.

Out of all the relationships she hoped would stay the same, she deeply wished that her relationship with Ben would be the one that wouldn’t change at all, but she guessed that it was quite selfish and unreasonable of her to have such expectations. After all, for a relationship not to have changed after one person turns into an incredibly appealing member of the opposite gender, the other would need to be blind. It was human nature to be influenced by appearances after all.

She was brought back from her inner turmoil by Roxanne poking her cheek, her concerned face filling up her vision as her eyes refocused.

“Are you alright Aurora? You seemed quite dazed and pensive?”

Aurora awkwardly cleared her throat behind a fist as her expression became awkward.

“Sorry, everyone’s reactions sort of drove home… well, more things changing that I hoped would stay the same. I’m alright, don’t worry. Let’s move on to the next items!”

Forcing a smile onto her face while inwardly trying to get herself back into the high spirits she was previously in, Aurora walked back into the changing rooms, taking the dress off with Roxanne’s help as she picked up the next item to try on.

*****

The head maid who had gone to pick out some additional yoga pants had apparently been looking around the section of the department filled with formal dresses, picking out an entire stack for Aurora to try on, meanwhile, she had been trying on some of the baggy lounge wear Marie had picked out, a couple of designer hoodies, one in pink and another in purple, as well as a woolly jumper that looked like it could fit one and a half of her.

Aurora proceeded to spend the next few hours trying on the seemingly never-ending stream of clothes that everyone had picked for her. There were a few items that didn’t appeal to her sense of fashion, but the majority of items had been approved by both herself and the group waiting to see how everything fit.

The rack of clothes she was planning on getting became so full that the clerk responsible for the personal shopping reception had come over to take it away, no doubt going to start scanning all the items she was buying.

After finally trying on all the clothing and apparently making up for her life’s worth of shopping she had missed, Aurora had asked if she could keep wearing the last outfit she tried on since she would likely not have time to go and get changed after this shopping trip, and not that she outwardly express it, but she wanted to wear one of her new outfits over the quite bland and in places, too tight clothes she had arrived in.

She stepped out of the changing room wearing black, high-waisted suit trousers that were form-fitting down to the knees where they lightly flared out, while for her top she had decided on a smart white plain satin blouse with the top buttons undone to expose her collarbones. 

She had decided to wear a double-breasted lapel overcoat that ended down by her knees, rounding off her outfit to be both stylish and appropriate for wearing in a professional environment. While the style felt more comfortable to her looking somewhat similar to her usual style when she was a man, it was clearly very feminine and stylish as it accentuated her curves and made her legs look longer.

The only thing left out of place was the white trainers sticking out of the bottom of her trousers.

Nearly happy with her current attire, she walked over to the reception where nearly everything but the last few items had been tallied and bagged up. Aurora stepped up and rested her hand on the reception desk, impressed by the stacks of bags now filling up the long counter in front of her as well as the one against the wall behind the clerk. It was clear that even if everyone with her carried as many bags as their arms could handle, there was no way that they could manage to take everything, let alone fit it into the Rolls Royce alongside them.

After a few moments of waiting, the final cost for everything she had selected stopped rising on the little screen staring her down with a grand total of £38,537.24. Aurora put her card into the card reader as Ben's shocked voice sounded from over her shoulder.

“Fucking hell, I knew women spent a lot on clothes, but man, nearly forty grand in one go? And you just started!”

Roxanne giggled from the other side as she winked at Ben.

“Well, £500 of that is for a matching dress Aurora said she would buy for me, so it’s only thirty-eight grand.”

Ben just shook his head in exasperation as he looked like he was losing the will to live.

“Man, imagine if I spent that much, I might have actually got my tank…”

Aurora snorted as she took the store clerk up on the offer for the department store to deliver the items to her home, filling in the sheet with her address details before leaving the clerks to deal with the results of the last few hours of chaotic fashion exploration, something that had clearly taken a toll on Ben the most as he looked as if all his energy and willpower had been drained.