《A Flower in Death's Embrace》Chapter 9
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Gloxinia's eyes were sparkling so much while looking up at Vincent that he felt like he was being pricked by her gaze. Being stared at so innocently like that, there was no way Vincent could bring her down.
"...Why?" he asked.
"It looks pretty. It's like what princesses in the picture books wear," Gloxinia said.
Vincent glanced at the dresses. They were certainly very pretty, but they were also very showy. He knew he asked what she liked, but he was thinking more of casual clothes…
"Any other?" Vincent asked again.
Gloxinia looked around before frowning. Everything else looked about the same to her. They all looked good but there wasn't anything else she was particularly attracted to.
Gloxinia shook her head.
"Is it weird for me to wear that?" Gloxinia muttered while glancing at the gothic lolita clothing store.
"No, no. It's not weird," Vincent said in a panicked tone. "We can check them out later if you want, but for now you should get some clothes you can wear on a daily basis."
"I can't wear that on a daily basis?" Gloxinia asked.
Vincent hesitated for a bit before shaking his head.
"It's complicated to maintain and wear," he decided to say. He knew some people actually wear gothic lolita on a daily basis--and he wouldn't judge that--but it would be hard for Gloxinia who didn't have any other casual clothes to begin with.
"I see," Gloxinia nodded in understanding. She then pointed at the store next to it, a casual outfit store for girls. "That?"
Vincent nodded, "Something like that."
Vincent walked towards that store with Gloxinia following closely behind. The store wasn't too big, but there was quite a variety of clothes ranging from tops and bottoms to dresses.
"Pick one that you can change into," Vincent said. He turned to the store clerk who was already by their side without Gloxinia noticing. "Please help her."
The clerk smiled and nodded as she led Gloxinia away. Gloxinia blinked in confusion and glanced at Vincent and the clerk back and forth, but she didn't resist.
Vincent then took a seat on the shop's sofa to wait. He watched as the clerk grabbed a few clothes and led the flustered Gloxinia into a fitting room.
Vincent stared at the door of the fitting room when it closed.
How did I end up here? he thought to himself.
Vincent was originally one of the best Angels of Death around. He would get any job done flawlessly ever since he first started being an Angel of Death. He was a prodigy, so to say.
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He never spoke too many words. He would pick up a soul and deliver it to his superior according to the protocols. No wasted movement, not a single wasted moment.
But now, a female spirit was leading him around by the nose.
Vincent preferred to be alone, but he actually agreed to be her friend and eat sweets with her on a day off.
She threw him off. Ever since the moment they met for the first time.
A long dark hair enveloping a small face. Lush eyelashes and round eyes that reminded him of a purple sapphire. Smooth, pale cheeks with a tinge of pink. Naturally rosy lips. The moment he laid eyes on her, he could tell that she wasn't human.
Admittedly, Vincent was stunned when he first met Gloxinia in her white off-shoulder dress.
Vincent inwardly groaned as he changed his sitting position and rested his head on his hand.
Inside the fitting room, Gloxinia stared at the pile of clothes in front of her. The clerk was beyond enthusiastic to gather them when she told her that she didn't know what style she preferred.
She decided to start with the one lying on the very top: a mint-colored blouse.
As soon as she tried them on, someone knocked on the door of her fitting room. Gloxinia instinctively unlocked the door and peeked outside through a small gap.
"How is it, Miss? Do you need any help?"
It was the clerk who was guiding her earlier. Gloxinia looked down at the blouse that she managed to put on. She had it all buttoned up to the top, which meant she was all good to go.
"No, I'm fine," Gloxinia replied, opening the door wider for the clerk to see.
The clerk stared at Gloxinia without a word.
"Pardon me, Miss, but…" she reached out to Gloxinia, which made the latter flinch. The clerk smiled to reassure her, before proceeding to unbutton the top two buttons on the blouse and style the collar.
"For this blouse, buttoning it up completely like that will give you a stiff impression. It should look and feel better like this," the clerk said as she gestured for Gloxinia to check herself in the mirror.
Gloxinia looked at the mirror with her mouth slightly open. Just by unbuttoning the two buttons at the top and fixing the collar, the blouse gave off a different impression. She certainly didn't think buttoning up all the way was wrong before, but somehow it looked more natural this way.
These clothes were really interesting.
Gloxinia unknowingly smiled while looking at the clothes in the mirror. She then turned her head to the pile of clothes.
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"Can I try the rest of them and ask for your opinion?" Gloxinia asked the clerk. The clerk's face lit up and she nodded in vigor.
It felt like ages for Vincent as he waited for Gloxinia to be done trying them all. From a distance, he could see her opening the door to the fitting room and talking to the clerk a few times.
He also saw her in those clothes she was trying, but he had nothing to say about them. She looked great in anything, after all.
After what seemed like forever, Gloxinia finally exited the fitting room with a black top and a pair of jeans. The long, tight trousers made her legs look tall and slender.
Definitely a thousand times better than her uniform skirt earlier.
She carried a bunch of clothes out in her embrace and the clerk offered to help carry a few since they were threatening to fall. Both of them were heading to the cashier.
Vincent sighed in relief seeing that Gloxinia was nearly done. His phone then suddenly vibrated, indicating that a message came.
[Dead Daddy: On a date, aren't you?]
It was his superior, obviously ready to tease him in full force.
Vincent locked his phone without replying and put it inside his pocket. When a shadow loomed over him, he looked up. Gloxinia was standing before him in her new clothes. She wasn't carrying anything except for the small bag she had been carrying since the start.
"Where did you put your previous clothes?" Vincent asked, checking around her.
"I asked the clerk if they could hold them for me here while we go to the cafe," Gloxinia said.
Vincent nodded. That was quite smart of her, he should say. He then stood up from his seat and bowed a little towards the clerks at the cashier to show his gratitude.
"After you," Vincent said.
Gloxinia beamed and walked ahead in her brand new clothes. This was her first time wearing trousers, and it turned out to be very comfortable for her. She felt like it suited her a lot compared to skirts.
Lilly's wardrobe mostly consisted of dresses and skirts, so Gloxinia naturally thought that it was just a given for her to wear skirts. She never thought that there was another option.
Gloxinia took her phone out to check the direction Roselyn gave her through a message. Then she glanced up at Vincent. Come to think of it, he was holding something unfamiliar to her back when they were at the store.
"Was what you were holding earlier the new model of phones you talked about before?" Gloxinia asked, unable to suppress her curiosity.
Vincent nodded.
"Yeah. Why?" he asked. His eyes were glued on her, as if studying her reaction.
"Nothing."
Gloxinia shook her head and returned her attention to her ancient phone. She wanted to touch his phone, but it would probably be rude of her to ask that. After all, it was his personal possession. Even she would get territorial if someone else carelessly touched what was hers.
As if noticing what she was thinking about, Vincent took out his phone.
"Do you want to see?" he asked while offering his phone to her.
Gloxinia's eyes twinkled when she saw it. It looked nothing like Lilly's phone. It was rectangular, wide, yet thin. The most jarring difference was how it had no buttons. In her curiosity, Gloxinia scooted closer to Vincent.
"Is this all screen?" she asked while touching on the surface of Vincent's phone.
"Yeah. Most phones have a touchscreen now," Vincent said while turning on the screen, which earned a gasp of awe from Gloxinia.
She touched on the lockscreen, but it only made ripple effects on the screen. She touched it again multiple times and it still did the same.
From above her head, she heard a chuckle.
"Here," Vincent said as he gently held Gloxinia's index finger and guided it to slide across the screen, unlocking his phone.
Gloxinia gaped in admiration. She'd never seen anything like that before.
However, there was practically nothing on Vincent's phone aside from the basic apps. Not even a single game.
"You don't have Snakes here?" Gloxinia asked while swiping the screen to look around his phone. Snakes was her favorite pastime. It was the only game she had in her ancient phone—and basically the only mobile game she knew. It had always been there, so she was under the impression that all phones would've had it.
"No," Vincent said. He seemed to know what she was talking about. He then pointed at an icon. "But you can install a bunch of games there."
Gloxinia clicked on it immediately. She quickly became so immersed in browsing through the app store that she didn't even realize that Vincent handed over his phone to her completely and took her phone.
"Oh, I found it," Vincent muttered.
"Huh?" Gloxinia finally looked up from Vincent's phone and her gaze fell straight onto her phone in his hand. He nodded at the direction of the upper floors, where the cafe was at.
Gloxinia couldn't tell where it was though.
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