Finny was glad to have a nice sunny day after tons of rain, but my was it a hot one. He was off for the day, meaning he could go enjoy some shopping and maybe even a little bit of sun after getting a few new outfits. He had gone as far as to doll up some, at least to take care of his makeup and wear something a bit more suited for the warm weather. he didn't care that his shorts hung low enough to expose his hip tattoos, he was just glad to get out the house without having to worry about turning into a fish on land.

Red heels clicked some one the walk ways, the siren having just arrived in the shopping center. he could feel eyes on him, but he was in his own little world of sorts as he walked, a bit of a hum leaving him. He had walked into a few stores so far, but found nothing but hungry eyes here and there. As time passed, he ended up going to the food court, grabbing a smoothie. He had discovered they weren't half bad, gaining a real taste for them. He started to look for a table or bench he could sit at for a moment, not caring if his hips swung a bit much when he walked or that his heels were a tad loud. Finny could never help to be amused at how many thought he had to be some chick just by their faces when he was a happy boy that just loved to dress up as an overly attractive girl.


outfit

Idle shopping had never made sense to Kevin.  He made every act of buying a mission, you got in, got the target, got out.  In, out, no messy clean up.  His bare apartment was starting to grate on him as his actual mission took longer and longer.  Weeks had passed and not so much as a stray wolf hair.  So, Kevin gave himself the side mission of gathering nick-knacks for his apartment, like a message machine, small decorative things that told whomever entered 'a person lives here, NOT a homicidal manic".

His mission complete for the most part, Kevin walked into the food court, his two bags of items incredibly light.  He ordered a burger and sat where he could have a good view of the people coming and going.  There was the mandatory clique of teenagers, some had skateboards leaning on the table in front of them, others had on backpacks.  A few mothers strolled their young children around, their eyes speaking of lost youth.  From the way she walked, Kevin knew she was a woman who knew how she dressed.  No hips swayed that way, that didn't know eyes were drawn to them.  He blatantly looked her up and down, the tiny shorts framing a slim figure.

Kevin saw her face and was a little disappointed.  It was his opinion that women should wear minimal make up.  The face was pretty enough, he just wanted to wash all the make up off.  She sat down nearby, a close enough distance Kevin did not feel comfortable with a direct stare, wouldn't due to make himself seem like a creep.

Considering his options Kevin took a big bite of burger, ketchup and mustard squirting out the edges and covering his thumb.  As he licked the mess off his thumb turned his face to her, and in a casual tone used his tried and true method that always worked, "Nice weather we're having, hm?"  He gave the briefest of glances to the girl's shorts before smirking at her and hoping it was more charming and manly, than creepy and off-putting.

Finny sat down, toes turning in some as he gave his feet a rest for a moment. Red painted lips sipped on his drink, a hand reaching to play with his hair. A section was twisted around his fingers, red painted nails looking bright against blond hair. He knew eyes were on him still, but didn't seem to pick up on it too much until someone talked to him. Doe-like eyes looked over, blinking before spotting who was talking to him. He just started to talk then.
"It really is. I can finally get out the house without drowning in rain."
He gave a giggle at the end. The thought of him drowning just amused him as he couldn't exactly do that unless there were chemicals in the water. He sipped on his drink again, fingers pulling through blond strands easily. At least now he had one brave soul willing to do more than stare.

Kevin bit into his burger again as the woman spoke.  To her statement he nodded his head vigorously in agreement to her comment, not wanting to speak while his mouth was full.  "I do prefer sun over rain."  Sun meant warmth, and warmth meant girls wore skirts and dresses.  He wasn't a pig, but eye candy was pleasant.

"Name's Kevin, pleasure to meet you ma'am."  He took another chunk out of his burger, enjoying the flavor of the meat and crunch of the lettuce.   At this step in the conversation, Kevin figured it'd have to be her moving forward with it, too much focus from him would be off-putting, but just the right amount of distraction drove the girls crazy.  Part of his focus was on the other patrons of the food court.  If he judged correctly, this little piece of eye candy probably tended to get more attention than she could handle.  Lucky for her, Kevin would make sure she wasn't disturbed by anyone but him.

Finny smiled a bit more, a bit content with dealing with this man. He ended up moving a bit closer, eyes on him again before he could tell a few were stunned at the siren sitting with Kevin. He sat town again, unable to stifle a near giggle fit at being called ma'am. He looked at Kevin's face for a moment, knowing things might get a bit awkward soon and he couldn't help to find it funny.
"Oh don't call me that. Friends call me Finny. You're a new face around here, when did you get here?"
He had crossed his legs a bit in his seat, leaning a little on the table as if to show he had interest. Finny was making this a bit of a game he hadn't played in a long time:how long could this go on before the straight man realized he wasn't a she.

People see what they want to see, and currently Kevin saw a pretty blonde coming to chat with him.  It had to be his suave mannerisms and handsome face.  All his weight lifting had paid off, giving him the kind of body Greeks would immortalize in stone.  He's kind of a big deal, or so he felt.

"I've been in town a little while, Finny" he nibbled on some fries in between the thoughts.  "What gave it away that I was new though?"   Being noticeably new could be a problem, people didn't trust strangers and new strangers least of all.  He needed the people of this town to trust him if he was to save them from the creatures of the night.

Finny just chuckled at the new guy wondering what gave it away he wasn't always here. Since Finny has been dating jack, he'd become a bit more bold in sense of talking, only getting shy around the wolf due to infatuation with the alpha.
"I know people watch me, so that's how I knew. New faces always stand out."
He ended up popping the top off his smoothie, not realizing until now there was a few cherries just thrown in and not chopped up. He almost seemed giddy about it before using the straw to going them to top so the siren could just pluck them from the cup. He was such a strange little merman, but he was a happy one.
"Along with how you didn't use a cat call or whistle to get my attention. Half of these guys think I'm easy, but you seem to know better than to just be a pig."

Kevin finished off what was left of his burger, nodding as he listened to Finny.  "Beauty should be respected and admired, never degraded for being something desirable."  The Professor, for all his faults, had apparently been a ladies man in his younger years, when a bolder student asked him how he had managed it, that had been the response, followed up quickly with a chide remark about using honey rather than vinegar.

An almost shy smile whispered on his lips before he brought his eyes from the remains of his burger to Finny's, "Would you catcall Boticelli's Venus?"  He laughed audibly letting his head fall back as he repeated the words in his own mind, the sleaziness of it sang clear and true.  Trying to save his face, "What I mean is, what I believe the professor had been trying to do was prove to us that a beautiful woman,"  he gestured to Finny, "shouldn't be turned into an object."  He then gestured to the group of teenagers that had probably catcalled before, if they ever had the courage.

Finny listened to Kevin talk, each time he was addressed as female he couldn't help to giggle. He always found it so funny. He ran one of his hands through his hair, a smile on his face.
"You get used to it after a while, so I can handle myself pretty well."
Just as he was getting comfortable again, one of the guys from work walked over. He gave a wave, a little bit of chatter going on. Finny didn't even bat an eye lash at his co-worker telling him to be a good boy and stay out of trouble dressed as he was. He just smiled though before directing his attention back to Kevin as if nothing happened.

Kevin had tensed momentarily, ready to act if necessary as the co-worker approached.  Then something little and small snapped in his mind.  The co-worker referred to Finny with a masculine pronoun.  Surely it was a joke.  With all his might he tried to seem unperturbed by the comment but started to do a check of his own.  Though his primary focus appeared to be his fries, he scanned subtly for masculine features on Finny.

Make up was more of a feminine nature, then there were the shoes to think of, all superficial.  Kevin knew that.  The jaw line was a little more broad than some women, but he knew a woman named Helga, and, well Helga barely resembled a woman without the trappings associated with feminine natures.  There was one way to be certain.  Other than checking someone's private bits.  Kevin shot his gaze to Finny's throat.  Right in the center, between collar bone and chin.

And there it was.

Such a tiny detail to overlook.  Adam's Apple.  Kevin tried to pull some form semblance of poised ease, but even as he tried he could feel it crumbling.  He kept a serious, though friendly look on his face and opened his mouth to speak but the words felt like rubber in his mouth, bouncy and frivolous.  In that moment Kevin gave up and blushed with his intense embarrassment.  "So I'm an ass."  Point blank he looked at Finny, before looking away.  He leaned back and opened his mouth to speak again before closing it once more, "You do this often?"  His laughter and smile was more to try to ease his humiliation.

Finny blinked a little confused at why Kevin seemed to be turning into a bit of a gaping fish for a moment. Finny didn't understand for a moment before it seemed that Kevin finally caught on he wasn't actually a she. His expression softened then, clearly seeing the guy was trying to laugh off not knowing.
"this is just how I dress. Sorry for leading you on there in thinking I'm a girl. You've still been the nicest about all this though."
He had been hit before when discovered, but it been a long time since that reaction.

A part of him was angry, a part of him wanted to lash out and call Finny names for being foolish enough to dress that way.  A bigger part of him knew the anger stemmed from his own mortified humiliation.  "It's... a little disturbing, not gunna lie."  He scratched at the back of his head, squishing his face as he considered everything.  With a heavy sigh, he looked at Finny again, "It's not your fault.  Free country still, right?"

Kevin wondered if anyone was "normal" in this town, the grill cook toked up, boys dated boys, boys even dressed like girls...  Perhaps Professor Gordon had been right to notice something off with this town, but maybe it had a much more mundane origin than expected.

It was still obvious he was a little freaked out, but a person gets points for trying, right?  

Finny still kept a kind expression, noticing Kevin was uncomfortable and a bit disturbed. He tugged on his hair, the nervous habit a marker he wasn't trying to stress out. He listened to the other, just trying to calm.
"I just don't feel comfortable in guy clothes. You don't really need to worry though, as far as I know, not many guys here dress like me. And those that do, you can tell. Just don't let it stop you from trying to find a date okay?"
Finny knew this town was strange, but it was a nice place to live and hide his abilities from the world. He was glad for it, not planning to leave anytime soon.

Idly he rubbed his forehead, thoughts buzzing, "Y'nkow what..."  He lost the thought for a moment but caught on to one he felt was better as he let go of the negative emotions as he'd been taught, his smile was truly genuine this time, "I think it's strong of you to do as you want.  A lot of people... don't.  Even if they want it badly, they are so afraid of being shunned that they hide away part that make them... them."  His words were not as well crafted as he normally let them, a sign he was still shaken, but he did mean them.

It took courage to stand for your beliefs, even if it was something as simple as choosing to wear what others saw as different, even wrong.  There are countries where women can't show an inch of flesh without being killed for what was considered shameless exposure.  Kevin saw Finny's cross dressing as a thing that made this country great, a thing he wanted to protect from the unnatural supernaturals.

Feeling a little bit better in his own skin, and not nearly so humiliated, "So, is there, like a club, or a meeting place?  The more warning I get the less red my face has to be."  He laughed hoping he wasn't being insulting, but doing his best to accept something that went against his opinion of 'normal'.

Finny gave a bigger smile, no longer pulling on his hair as it looked like Kevin was relaxing and calming down again. The smile helped him believe that, liking the little speech. He could only give a bit of a nod, knowing Kevin wasn't entirely comfortable yet. Finny giggled at ther question, hand stifling the sound.
"Well there is men's night at some of the bars. It's when majority of male strippers get to preform. You can normally tell the instant you walk in a bar if it is or not, so as long as you're quiet no one will see you turn tail and leave. Other than that....no I can't think of anything."
He started to sip on his drink again, eyes growing a little sad as he used to work nights like that. He wasn't going to breathe a word of it to Kevin, but the memories still stung some in reflection.