Room 508, Thursday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

So...prom was tomorrow. And almost the entire contents of Kathy's wardrobe was strewn about her side of the room, as she tried to find something--anything--that she could wear and still look Ms. Adler in the eye if she were there to chaperone. Even knowing that most of this stuff hadn't started off as her wouldn't make up for actually wearing it.

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[tigerundercover]

Raven was passing by and found herself doing a double take after she happened to walk past Kathy's room.

She had never seen quite that many trains in one place before. Especially considering not a damn one of them looked bridal.

"Wow," she said, looking over the rest of the mess of clothes. "This is -- is all this stuff in fashion?"

She really had no idea. She had found her weird little retro fashion niche of internet and had stuck to it, for her own inspirations.

[spin_kick_snap]

Yeah, but 50s clothing was iconic!

"Only if you're an elderly Korean grandma who knits doilies and dresses out of the same darn pattern," Kathy groused, staring at another monstrosity. "I'm pretty sure this started life as a rug somewhere."

Tossing it into the 'oh god get rid of it' pile, she finally glanced up and gave Raven a smile. "Hey, come on in. I promise not to try to foist anything extra hideous on you."

[tigerundercover]

Raven came in, eyeing the piles of clothing curiously. ". . . Your grandma made all this?" she asked, lifting the corner of something brightly colored with innumerable ruffles. "Where do you even have room for it all?"

Asked the girl who could fit her entire wardrobe into one small suitcase -- and only had that much for show.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shook her head. "Nah, both my grandmas live in Korea. We get gifts every few years from them, when we visit, but the cost to ship overseas makes anything else way too expensive a proposition."

Nodding at the mountain of terrible clothing, she explained, "These are all from women in my neighborhood back home. Before I came here, most of what I wore were my school uniforms and gymnastic gear, with, like tee-shirts and jeans on the weekends. So when it came time for me to move out here, everyone came together to make sure I had enough clothing to wear for all different occasions." Like whatever occasion would require something like this. Kathy wasn't sure what that occasion would be but she sure was prepared for it.

"So I kinda feel guilty about just throwing it all away..."

[tigerundercover]

"You could . . . donate it?" That was a thing people with clothing did, right? "Oh, I think I kinda like that one. It looks like it should be on TV somewhere."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You want it?" Kathy offered. "It's kinda itchy and uncomfortable. I tried it on and, I dunno, maybe it just didn't fit right? But I felt like I was getting compressed and it sorta looked like my chest was on fire."

[tigerundercover]

"Oh. Um." How to put this politely? "No thanks? I don't really need any new clothes right now." Or pretty much ever. ". . . Could you hold it up a little, though? So I can see the lines?"

She didn't want to keep it, but that didn't mean she didn't want to file away the style for potential later use.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy laughed. She recognized that 'Oh. Um.' "Yeah, sure, no problem," she said, holding it up so Raven could see whatever she wanted of it. "Don't worry. I don't want most of it, either. I'm not offended you don't."

[tigerundercover]

"Not if it's itchy," Raven said. Of course, in her opinion, all clothes were itchy and restrictive. "I . . . kinda make my own clothes." She walked around, tilting her head a little as she got a good look at the dress. "I'm always looking for inspiration, but I don't really like tight stuff, either."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You do?" Kathy asked, impressed. "That's awesome! I can sew on buttons and hem a few things poorly, but that's about it. Definitely not make whole outfits." She looked at what Raven was wearing. "Did you make that, too?"

So cool!

[tigerundercover]

Okay, now Raven was feeling guilty for bending the truth (and kind of wanting to show off). "Technically!" she said. "I, um. Kind of get to cheat."

She absolutely could not sew a button or hem anything.

[spin_kick_snap]

Don't worry, Raven. When you showed Kathy what you could do, she'd be all for getting you to show off.

"Cheat?" she asked, confused for the moment. "How? Do you have some kind of...pattern-making program?"

She literally had no idea how someone could cheat at making clothing.

[tigerundercover]

"Sort of!" Raven said. By which she mean absolutely not at all. "Only kind of in my head?"

And she shifted into Kathy, wearing the dress Raven had just been admiring. Which Kathy was quite possibly still holding.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Ahh!" Kathy dropped the dress she was holding and took a startled leap backwards.

A leap that ended up putting her on the other side of the room, but details.

"You're--you're--Are you magic?"

[tigerundercover]

"Mutant," Raven explained with a little shrug. "I'm a shapeshifter." She settled back into her more practiced form, not wanting to freak out Kathy too much.

She did love that first reaction, though.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Ooooh," Kathy said. And then offered a tentative smile. "I--I think I might be a mutant, too," she said.

It was the only thing she could think of, why she'd just suddenly developed powers.