wyndewalker

At the Mall Xander headed straight to Barnes and Noble. He grabbed a random book off the new non-fiction shelf before leading Giles into the in-store café. He stopped at a small unoccupied table.

“Sit. Stay.”

Giles quirked an eyebrow but sat down. “Do I get a biscuit if I’m a good boy?”

Holding up his hand in an ‘aha’ gesture, Xander walked away. A few minutes later he returned with a cup of Earl Grey tea and a blueberry scone on a plate.

“I wasn’t being serious,” Giles chuckled, “but thank you for the thought. Here is my credit card. There is more than enough room on it. I understand you will find some things on sale but please do not buy cheaply simply for the sake of being cheap. Now, it is just after eleven o’clock and the clinic opens at one. Try to be back by then.”

“That should be fine. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Outside Barnes and Noble he stopped by the CVS two stores down to grab a small notebook and a couple of pens. Back out in the walkway Xander sat down on one of the benches scattered around. Within a few minutes he’d written out a list of the things he needed in the way of clothes. He hated to admit Giles was right but he was. Most of the clothes he had worked for Harper, a little even for Brian but everyone else in his head protested them loudly. So new clothes in general, plus workout clothes and clothes for patrolling.

Satisfied with his list Xander headed towards the closest appropriate clothes store. Appropriate in that there was no way he was shopping at Dress Barn. He never even noticed that he’d written his list in Sindarin.

As he’d told Giles would probably happen, Xander hit every applicable store once before going back to the ones that interested him. In the end it was interesting finding clothes that satisfied all his personalities. His clothes were a mix of surfer and prep school chic. Workout clothes were tanks, bike shorts and sweats. Clothes for patrolling were debated over for a bit before he settled on relatively close-fitting cargo pants with plenty of pockets and form fitting tees, short and long sleeve, in dark colors. The more formal attire was a bit of a pain. Shorts and pants were easy enough. He picked out several silk shirts in dark jewels tones with both regular and banded collars. Two pairs of black slacks were tossed on top of the shirts. It was the jacket that was giving him issues. He just didn’t like any of the standard styles.

On his third pass through the rack Xander was about to just randomly pick one when an older well-dressed gentleman approached him.

“I couldn’t help noticing you haven’t found a jacket to your satisfaction. Perhaps I can be of assistance. I am Giovanni Martello, owner and head tailor of this establishment.” He had a faint Italian accent.

Xander quirked an eyebrow as he met the other man’s gaze. What was it with Scoobies and store owners paying special attention to them?

“If you are tying to intimidate me, young man, I am well aware of this town’s, shall we say, other side?” Giovanni pushed aside the collar of his shirt to reveal a small ornate cross necklace at the base of his throat. “Now, what is the occasion?”

Xander still didn’t entirely trust him because Ethan had been completely human too. He’d just make sure Giles checked everything over for spells. “No specific occasion. My guardian decided I needed to update my wardrobe and semi-formal wear was insisted upon.”

“I see. Well what didn’t you like about what’s out here? I am sometimes willing to do custom work for the right customer.”

“I guess they’re all too…traditional. No, that’s not quite it.” Xander paused then pulled out his notebook and pen. He quickly sketched out a faceless male the same build as himself from the front, back and side. Next he sketched on a jacket. It had a stiff band collar, buttoned down to the waist then left open down to mid-thigh. It was split into slightly overlapping tails in the back. The sleeves ended just above his wrist and were slightly bell-shaped but not excessively so. He’d barely finished before the tailor snatched the notebook from his hands.

“Yes, yes. This would work quite well for you. Definite Mandarin influence,” Giovanni half muttered to himself. Snapping his fingers, he didn’t even look up when one of his junior tailors appeared at his side.

“Yes, sir?”

“Get this young man’s complete measurements. I will need to do sketches. You have some talent, young man, do not let it go to waste. Is this… Such delicate embroidery you’ve hinted at. Can you provide a detail of the embroidery?”

“Yes, sir,” Xander replied a bit bemused by the sudden flurry of activity. He allowed the junior tailor to strip off his sweater and manhandle him onto a stool. The junior tailor did pause when he came across the dataport on Xander’s neck but a hard glare had him gulping and quickly getting back to work. Giovanni was still muttering over Xander’s sketches when the junior tailor finished.

“All done, sir.”

“Good, good. Leave the measurements on my table.” Giovanni carefully pulled the sketch out before handing the notebook back to Xander. “You have presented me with an interesting challenge, young man.”

“Xander,” he interrupted, tired of being called young man. “My name is Xander Harris.”

“Mr. Harris. Come back in two days and I will have sketches and samples. We shall do a proper fitting and make any necessary changes. Buon giorno.” With that the older man disappeared into the back of the store.

“Alright then,” Xander muttered. He gathered up the shirts and slacks he’d selected bringing them to the register. A few minutes later everything was paid for and he was out the door.

Checking his watch, Xander say it was a quarter to one. He had one more stop to make that luckily was on the way back to Barnes and Noble. In Sears he quickly headed to the Automotive and Hardware departments. A quick glance around told him that they didn’t have anywhere the selection of Harry’s but then Harry’s was a specialized store and in LA with a bigger market. It would be enough though to work on Giles’ Citroen. He picked up a basic toolkit but would have to wait until he got the manual to pick up anything more specific.

Xander made it back to Barnes and Noble with two minutes to spare. Giles was about halfway through the book Xander had handed him. He looked up as Xander approached. There was approval in the older man’s gaze as he noted the bulging bags.

“Did you get everything you need?”

“Pretty much,” Xander said dropping into the chair across from him. “I have to go back to the men’s formalwear store on Wednesday for a fitting.”

“A fitting for what?”

“Suit jacket. I didn’t like what they had on the rack so the head guy decided to help me. I did a quick sketch of what I’d like and you’d think it was his birthday with how excited he got. Said I was ‘challenging’ him.” Xander shrugged. “It wasn’t anything special. Just a simple Sindarin day jacket. He probably would’ve passed out if I’d asked for Royal Court attire.”

Giles gaped then shook his head. “Yes, well, I’m sure he’s not quite used to receiving requests for Elven designed attire. Did you get everything else?”

“Clothes, yeah. I only picked up a basic toolkit until I get a manual for the car. I can still do minor repairs on it; it’s not like it’s one of those new hybrid engines. Granted with Harper’s memories I’d probably be able to figure one of those out pretty quickly too. So, clinic next?”

“Yes, they should be open now. Let me just pay for this first. It’s a fascinating treatise on cryptography. So many prophecies are in written in some sort of code or another. This could prove quite useful.”

“Huh. Let me know when you’re done. I wouldn’t mind reading it,” Xander said following him to the register.

Luckily there wasn’t much of a line so Giles was quickly able to pay. Outside Xander put his bags in the Citroen’s tiny trunk before getting in.

“I wasn’t able to find any specialized artist supply stores in town but there is a Michael’s Arts and Crafts Supply store not too far from the Clinic.”

“Giles…”

“You are very talented, Xander, and… Do you still enjoy drawing?” Giles glanced over at him.

“Yes,” Xander sighed. “I don’t do it as much lately, mostly chronicling my dreams, well nightmares, but yes, I still enjoy drawing.”

“Then we are going to the art store so that you may pick up some more supplies. I noticed you had very few colored pencils and some of them were down to stubs.”

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t really afford the bigger sets or the good markers. I had an inking pen once but…it broke and I couldn’t replace it. I suppose I could use another sketchpad or two. I’ve almost finished my current one and Harper keeps pushing schematics at me.”

“That’s settled then. The clinic, the art store and then grocery shopping. We should be back just in time to meet the delivery men.”

“Yay.” Xander pulled his notebook and pen from a pocket. “What do we need from the grocery store?”

“Uhm, well, Milk. Laundry detergent. Oranges. What foods would you like?”