Whispers Beneath The Waves (Boy x Boy) [Shortlisted for The Wattys 2018!]

Chapter 10 - New Experiences

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely summer! I don't have much to say about this chapter, just that I hope you enjoy this fuzzy Klennon goodness ;)

Becky xx

Chapter 10

New Experiences

Kye couldn't get over the shopping mall. The hugeness of the building, the escalators, the glass lifts, the smell of fast food from the food court. And most of all the shops with their endless rows and racks of stuff ranging from the useful to the incredibly pointless. Candles and ornaments, high-heeled shoes and pom-pom keyrings. All this crazy, never-ending human stuff.

I took him into a modern menswear shop, the kind with blaring pop songs over the speakers and the smell of tester aftershaves lingering in the air. Like most high street shops, all the shirts on sale were pretty much exactly the same with slightly different patterns on the fronts, but they definitely beat the Melwyn Bay tourist T-shirt in terms of style.

"Go take a look," I said, ushering Kye toward the centre of the store. "We've got £150. Maybe pick up a couple of shirts, jeans and a pair of shoes. We should have just about enough."

He ran his fingers over a black vest-top, feeling every inch of the material. "I can pick what I want? How do you decide?"

"I dunno," I shrugged. "Personally I go with the most functional stuff. Cool for summer, warm for winter. But I'm not exactly a local fashionista."

Kye continued to scour the length of the nearest clothes rack, stopping to intently expect every item he came across. As he did so, a blonde shop girl approached him, eyes lighting up at the sudden presence of this wild creature in her vicinity. "Hey there! Can I help you? What are you looking for?"

"Clothes," Kye answered, slightly startled at being spoken to by a stranger. "To dress myself in."

"Right, of course," the girl giggled. "Well you're in luck, we have plenty of clothes in the whole dressing yourself category. What size are you?"

"Erm. Human-sized."

The girl laughed even harder. She thought Kye was a hilarious joker. I guess that was the obvious conclusion, not the fact he was from an underwater world and had never had to go clothes shopping in his life before. I probably didn't have to worry too much about her figuring that part out.

"Um, my friend actually just lost all his wardrobe," I jumped in, making up a story on the spot. "He um, he had to move quite suddenly from his home and didn't get to bring much with him. So we're looking for some staple pieces to keep him going for a while."

"Oh my God, you're kidding," the girl gasped, eyes widening with sympathy. She had probably imagined a whole tragic backstory now, one that didn't resemble the real truth whatsoever. "Well don't worry, I'll help you sort out a whole new wardrobe. Maybe I can even do you a deal, I'll speak to my manager."