Sharades (Sharaku, Shun)

San Malarus, after the events of: A New Home

11 am, a sunny morning, the air temperature is ideal for a stroll. Cold breeze gently blows through the crowded streets of the island, in many ways similiar to a busy beehive. The breeze along with the many beautiful clouds in the sky provide a haven from the blazing rays of the sun above. Seriously though, what kind of a weather condition was that supposed to be for a month such as March!? Alas, that was how it was, and how it was was fine as it was, because it was quite refreshing. If it wasn't for the city noise, the atmosphere would've been just perfect. Yeah, the city made everything less fun, didn't it? Especially since it basically never slept or took a break from its schedule. It also cared nothing for the individuals crawling through its concrete guts. Well, why would it have cared for such meaningless vermins? Not like it was its problem that they happened to live inside of it!

In any case, enough of the introduction. I believe we are all here to have a taste of the story, right? Well, yeah, so let's look at what Charles is doing right now. Yep, still in the store, right there, that one, yup, the one in that busy street. But what could he be doing? Let us descend and have a sneak peek...


Holy screw, holy screw, what was he supposed to friggin' do!? Mae was in his apartment, right now, right friggin' now and gah! He was on edge the entire time. Sure, one could think it'd be joyful to have one's love stay at their place, but it definitely wasn't! It was stressful, busy and really really difficult! Especially for him... he was the android one! He was the one who had nothing edible in his messy house and he was the one who was feeling so gosh darn guilty about it now! And that was why he had to do this! Yes, that was why he had to enter this dumb store and that was why he was now staring at various pieces of clothing all lined up on shelves in front of him, all of them calling out to him to friggin' put them on and try to look good for Mae once he gets ready to repay her for not having normal human living conditions covered in his apartment! Ugh, how he hoped she listened to him and hadn't done any cleaning herself while he was out since 8 am this morning...  But now now now he just couldn't pick anything! He just couldn't decide! What kind of style was Mae even into? He wanted to take her to a fancy dinner somewhere, but he lacked clothing for that! And he wanted Mae to be happy with his clothing when they'll be dancing together under the moonlight and by the violin! She'd forgive him then! T-that was how it went, right? Soooo... jeans? Should he keep the scarf? Was that scarf on the shelf over there better than his? Which one would Mae have preffered? A tie? A suit? What kind of shoes!!!!

Akh, he needed help!

He stormed out of the store, gripping his head in despair. He needed somebody, anybody to help him! And he needed that anybody right now, at this very moment! Yes! Somebody, anybody!? That guy? He seemed cool enough, with the setup and that snazzy hairstyle. Maybe him? Better than nothing! Charles dashed over and hid in the shadows of the store entrance. That guy only had to pass by close enough so he could grab him and pull him inside! Yeah, a perfect plan!


And so Charles waited for the mysterious person he had DEFINITELY NEVER EVER EVER met in his entire life to pass close enough to the store. And, as the person did, Charles jumped out, grabbed the man's arm and pulled him inside with all the might he could muster... Not really the best of plans, but... Well, when an android is as desperate as Charles was...

"You, please! Help me, it's urgent!" Charles shouted word after word. He failed to pull the man completely inside the shop as he intended to, but that was a stupid plan anyways. What was he even thinking back then? Oh right, he probably wasn't! Ungh, how do humans handle all this stress love brings into their lives!? "Sorry for everything, just come on, quick!" He turned away to the entrance to the shop and grabbed the handle tightly. "Please!" He was really desperate and it showed on the grimace on his face. Very unlikely for him, but this was an extraordinary situation. He really really needed to look good for Mae if he wanted to repay her and he really really didn't know how to make himself look good! He chose this guy to help him and hell, he needed the help! And quick! Who knew what Mae was doing back home... Was she angry at him or something? His apartment was such a mess, sigh...

Charles couldn't help but make a grimace. "It just is! Come on! It's for a girl, please!" He was shaking at the entrance to the shop, a bit from the stress of this whole situation which made him really really impatient and a bit from how uncomfortable it even was asking some complete stranger to help him with choosing his clothes. What choice did he have though? He just wanted to get this over with and make that dinner dance with Mae into reality...

One hand on the handle, he turned back to the guy. If it wasn't going to work any other way, then he really had to pull that stunt... It was gonna be so embarassing, though! No! No chickening out! Just pout the face and make your eyes look all teary and wide! C'mon, puppies in the movies always got it right!

-Charles used puppy dog eyes...

Ha! It worked! He knew it would work! He was just too damn cute for it to fail! Carried by a newfound wave of enthusiasm, Charles grabbed the man's arm again. "Thank you thank you! Let's go!" He pulled the man into the store and towards the counter, where a lady with an annoyed smile on her face waited by a pile of various clothing items. She gave them a look and nodded, then escaping into the back of the store as quickly as she could. Charles paid the annoyed shop employee no heed. She had no purpose anymore now that he brought a trump card in here! This was gonna be over in a jiffy! "Here, look!" He ran off to the pile. "These are the ones I manage to narrow my choice down to. It should be easy for you to give me advice now. Human brains process things quickly." He said as he dug through the pile, almost bigger than he was, eventually pulling a simple looking grey turtleneck and throwing it at the man. "You think this is good enough to be worn at a fancy dinner or should we scratch it from the list?"

The same questions ensued for a pair of trousers, shorts, even underpants and socks. Charles never even waited for the man's answer. He just threw stuff back at him, asking whether they'd be fancy enough and if they would fit with one another. Needless to say, in a matter of minutes, the man was almost completely covered up with clothes. The pile was gone and Charles turned back to the man with a satisified grin. "So, what do you say?"

He should slow down? This guy must've been kidding! This was an emergency and, if he thought Charles was going too fast, it was his dumb human head that was truly at fault! And all that after Charles has gone all the way outside, wasting precious time just to get him as his chosen helper! Not only that, but Charles' pile of clothes had been bigger at the start, but he was decent enough to sort it out and eliminate some of the items himself! If he thought this wasn't narrowed down, he was seriously mistaken...

"We won't get anything done that way! Here, let's play it your way!" Charles fowned, somewhat disappointed this guy wasn't as good as he had hoped. He would walk over to Sharaku and pick up a pair of pants, then walk back several steps and raise them in his hands with an annoyed frown. "So, what do you think about these pants?" He asked while tapping his foot.

Panties? Charles wasn't even wearing any panties! What were panties even!? And why was this guy getting more and more upset? He heard on the tv that people needed to work together to give birth to healthy inter-personal relationships and, eventually, to bring about a greater good! And that was exactly what he was doing right now! Was it wrong? He didn't know. He also had no idea what the other one was saying. Twisting panties? Finger to the face? Slow and steady wins the race? Were they all some odd sayings people of these parts have been passing down through generations and generations? He wasn't gonna let this guy know that he hadn't understood much, so he just continued frowning. "Of course you're not my personal maid! That would be nonsense. You and I just met and you're a male. And of course you can't show me your fingers while you're holding all the clothes!" Were all humans like that? He knew Mae definitely wasn't. She would've gladly helped him and wouldn't have spouted any of these stupid things this guy has been spouting. She wasn't from the Azores, so she probably didn't know about these sayings either. Ah, the two of them were such a good fit! That was why he had to get a good combination so he could amaze her at the dinner!

"Hmm?" Charles raised his eyebrows as the man spoke again. Finally, some constructive advice! "You think?" He knew he hadn't picked the wrong guy! He'd grin and put the pants onto his head, making sure the zipper was closed to avoid any possible awkwardness.

Charles frowned at the guy's raised eyebrow. "Men can be butlers." He simply said, still blissfully ignorant of everything else the man had said earlier. He paused for a bit when the other continued. Of course he knew the definitions of meathaphors and sarcasm, but, did this question mean this guy had ben using those last time when he spoke? "So, you're saying you were avoiding facing me directly with your words, rather taking the long path around?" And then Charles was the bad guy? Sheesh, seriously...

Charles quickly pulled the pants off his head as the other one started laughing at him. "O-of course not! Do you really think I was serious? Eheheh..." He threw the pants behind his back and back at the counter. He really couldn't think of a different reply than to just grin sheepishly, maybe at himself even? He was embarassed, but not feeling all that bad about it. He wasn't angry, rather, he felt almost like having fun. Sure, he has been made into an idiot right now, but it didn't bother him much. Still, was that thing the man said about putting pants on the head also a methaphor? Or was it sarcasm? In any case, this guy should better stop with hidden meanings... "L-let's just forget about this..." He ran a hand through his hair, putting the other one at his hip. He was still in a tight spot, though. He had no new outfit to wow Mae with at the dinner and this guy didn't seem to eager to help anymore... He waited until the guy stopped laughing (if he ever did stop laughing) before turning to face him again. "You're not enjoying this very much, are you? The shopping, that is... Sorry, it's been stupid of me to drag you into this like that... Let me just take the clothes and you can go."

Hmm... this guy actually offered some good points. Humans tend to not react well to cursin- Wait, he was trying to do that? Charles would frown. So this guy was trying to offend Charles, offend him comparably even to using swear words. He still swallowed his pride and gripped his left arm with his other hand, sourly looking up at the man's face. If he continued to argue, he felt as if this could end up being a similiar encount to that with that damned girl Sky, and god forbid such a conversation ever happening again. "I... you're right." He'd simply mutter.

Avoiding looking at the man's eyes, Charles turned to reply. To be honest, the man's response was different than he had expected. He thought he'd definitely be left alone by the guy who'd run off the moment Charles mentioned letting him leave. He couldn't help but smirk a little himself. "I- I don't have a phone. And not really many friends who could help." He replied meekly, suddenly jumping up as he figured something. "H-hey, what if you called one of your friends! You have one who could help, right?" His eyes opened widely as he gazed at the man from below. "This is really important, honestly! S-she move in with me when the school got abandoned and I have to repay her somehow... I mean, she helped fix up my place and everything, so I wanted to at least look good when I take her out for a dinner! A-and..!" He pulled out a magazine from somewhere in his jacket after frantically digging through in search of it and waved it at the guy's face. It was a... fashion magazine, packed with gleamingly huge titles and pictures of various celebrities and models on the front page. "This newspaper article says that if I'm not in, then I'm out!" He opened a page he had marked with some tape and pointed at an article on it. "I can't be out! If I am out, then where am I going to put my new sketching table! I need to stay IN my apartment!" Even worse, if he ended up OUT, then he wouldn't get to spend as much time with Mae anymore!