Anika held Alex’s arm again and walked beside him, looking around to the stalls. As they went out of the Market and into the main street on the opposite side from where they entered, Sara Perry saw a peculiar shop and took Kagu with her. She stopped in front of the window and pointed at a stuffed dark yellow Teddy bear:
“I am saving money to buy that as a birthday gift for my little brother! There are a bunch of toys and stuffed animals in this shop, but I once saw him drooling at this window, staring at that Teddy bear.”
“And you? You don’t want a toy from this store?”
“There’s a doll that I like, but first I am going to buy the Teddy bear and after I save money again, I will buy the doll.”
Kagu-tsuchi looked to the doll that Sara was pointing and asked:
“How do you gain money? You are too little!”
“My parents give me a copper coin for each day that I am in the Market with them. I work very hard for that coin, and I sell even more than my mother because everyone likes to buy from the cute little me!”
Kagu-tsuchi smiled at the proud little girl that had her chin raised and with a big smile on her face. She then pulled him again to the next shop where there were clothes for children up for sale. She pointed to a little boy’s set on a wooden mannequin, with a ruffled shirt, a scarf, trousers that went till the knees, and leather shoes:
“You would look pretty with that, Kagu! A real hunk!”
“Hunk? Where did you learn that word?”
Sara Perry shrugged while looking at the mannequin:
“That’s what my mother calls my father, it means incredibly pretty and desirable.”
Kagu-tsuchi pointed to the set next to that one on another wooden mannequin, of a light blue dress, perfect for Sara’s height:
“If you wore that one, I wouldn’t mind looking like a hunk with the other outfit!”
“Yeah, that’s pretty, but I don’t have money for it and I don’t want to ask my parents, because they already have a lot of expenses with me and my brother. My clothes are perfectly fine, I don’t need a new dress any time soon.”
Alex overheard them, and said with a smile:
“I think that’s a splendid idea, considering you are going to meet the King, Sara. Do you want to go inside and try that? Go with her, Kagu, and try that cute shirt and trousers.”
Sara Perry looked back and stuttered:
“B-but… Sir… I-I can’t pay for that…”
“But I can. Consider it as payment for saving me in the Market.”
Sara made a big smile and after nodding, she pulled Kagu-tsuchi and rushed to the store. Anika pulled Alex’s arm and whispered:
“You know she didn’t actually save you, right? That arrow would never hit you with me around.”
“Perhaps yes, and perhaps not. There’s nothing wrong with making her happy by telling her she did a good thing, right? Besides, if it wasn’t for her quick reaction on capturing that guy, you would probably kill him.”
Anika shrugged:
“Maybe I would. I don’t like criminals, and those two gave me a good excuse to kill them. Lucky for them, the guards arrive just in time. Can we also go in? I saw a dress that is not as revealing as this one and I want to try it.”
“Since when you have a problem with your dress? I like it.”
“I never said I have a problem, it’s just… I don’t need to show my body to anyone else, considering that I have already found you.”
Alex frowned, wondering what she meant by that. Anika rolled up her eyes and explained:
“Come on… The idea of wearing this kind of dress for a Mermaid is to call the attention of a pretendant! Since I already found you, there is no need to show myself so much, I only want to show my body to you. Get it?”
“Oh… I didn’t know that. You mean that a Mermaid uses her body, clothes and the way she acts when in search of a partner, and when she finds him, she can be more prudish?”
“Yes, that sums it all. It’s not that I can be more prudish because I found you, I have to be because it’s not proper to look like this with my partner next to me. It gives the wrong idea to other men, makes them think that I am still available, when I am not.”
Alex slowly nodded, suddenly realizing that there was another quirk with Mermaids that he didn’t know. Wenammy and Pearl followed them inside, and while Alex was looking at the outfits in the hangers, Anika went with Sara and Kagu-tsuchi to the changing room. Pearl elbowed Alex and signalled with her head to an extremely short and revealing light red dress:
“What do you say if we made Wenammy try that one? Wouldn’t she look sinful?”
Alex slowly nodded:
“Yeah… It has a long cleavage, and it seems to be a little loose in the chest. Since she has small breasts, it would definitely look good on her, because it will only give a hint of how they are. I am not sure about the length, because it would only cover half of her thighs.”
“Yeah, very easy to put the dress up to get to her juicy parts. I am going to make her try that one! Even if I have to drag her with me!”
Wenammy tried to fight it, but Pearl grabbed the dress and pulled Wenammy by her left ear, to the changing room. As they went in, Anika and Sara got out, with Kagu-tsuchi right after them. Alex crossed his arms and looked at Anika from top to bottom. She was wearing a light blue dress, with a very short cleavage, sleeves that went till her wrists, and down till the ankles. It had some simple embroidery, and a few very small crystals stitched to the fabric, making a pattern of shells and algae. Alex signalled her to make a twirl and he then spoke:
“It shouts ‘married Mermaid’ all over, if that was what you were aiming for. The colour is similar to your other dress, but this one covers a lot of your body.”
“My point exactly. You are going to pay for all our new clothes, or do I need to spend my money? Not that I mind paying it, of course, but I could consider it as payment like little Sara, after what happened in the Market.”
“Not a problem. As for Sara… Let me see… Yup, you look like a little lady, perfect to meet the King and the Princess. You also look cute, Kagu. So, there is only Wenammy…”
From the changing room, a few muffled screams and some slapping were heard, and then silence. Alex frowned and as he was walking to the changing room to see what happened, Pearl opened the door with her hair a complete mess and a mark of a slap on her left cheek. She made a big smile and said:
“This Fairy is stubborn! She didn’t want to be seen in that cute dress! She will be right back, just a few seconds. And a few more slapping, to convince her!”
Pearl closed the door, and a short scream was heard, followed by another slap. Then another. And a muffled scream. Finally, everything went quiet, and Alex asked:
“Anika… Do you think she killed her or what? Shouldn’t we go inside to check?”
“Let’s wait like Pearl said. I doubt Wenammy is dead. She might be a little hurt, but not dead.”
The door was open, and a smiling Pearl Pearson got out while fixing her ponytail. She pointed with her right open palm to the door and said:
“With you all, Wenammy, the dirty High Fairy!”
Alex stared at the red-faced Wenammy that had palm marks on her both cheeks, most probably because of the slapping. As Alex predicted, the excess fabric on the chest area looked good on her, giving a lot of room to the imagination, because it was not visible the size of Wenammy’s breasts, just a peek of the smooth lumps at the sides of the cleavage of the dress. As Alex’s gaze went down, he gulped at the sight of the tanned thighs and long legs. Wenammy had her hands behind her waist, in a very seductive pose apart from the shy look on her face. She slowly raised her look and faced Alex:
“Do… I look good? Pearl said I looked yummy, but I feel… dirty… I didn’t want to put this, but she slapped me… and threatened me… and said you would for sure like it…”
Alex slowly nodded, speaking with a dry throat:
“You look… dirty… yummy… and very, very hot… It’s not a dress to use for a walk in the City, that’s for sure… but in the bedroom… it would be perfect…”
Wenammy made a big smile with tears on her eyes:
“That’s… good… I was afraid you would hate me if you saw me in this… But Pearl was very convincing… she didn’t stop pressuring me…”
Alex vigorously shook his head:
“I would never hate you Wenammy! Not in that dress, or any other! It’s better if you go change, I am having a lot of trouble not to grab you right now!”
Wenammy rushed to the changing room and Alex gulped at the sight of her giggling butt as she ran. Pearl winked to Alex:
“See? Perfect for her, right? It goes unbelievable well with her shyness! If it were Anika or me, it wouldn’t look that good, but on Wenammy, it’s absolutely perfect!”
Alex quickly wiped the sweat on his eyebrows:
“Yes, that was an amazing sight for sure… I already had a glimpse of her legs because of the long side crack of her usual dress, but I wasn’t expecting that she had such a nice tan. She spends that much time in the sun?”
Pearl made a kinky smile:
“You never saw her… She likes to fly in her little Fairy form early in the morning, or by the end of the afternoon, every day. Completely naked, of course, like all Fairies do. The sun is not that strong at those hours, but every day, little by little, she got a nice tan. I am sure you will love to see her that tinny, she looks so cute! Even more than with that kinky dress!”
“You didn’t need to hit her to make her wear that.”
Pearl raised one eyebrow:
“Sure I did! She didn’t want to put it on! Don’t worry, she liked the slapping. I made sure to kiss her after I slapped her. She likes it that way.”
Alex glanced to see where Sara was, and when he noticed that she was on the other side of the store with Kagu-tsuchi, looking to a big mirror, he asked:
“You mean, she likes to be hit?”
“Not as simple as that! She likes the kissing, the squeezing and the grabbing, mixed with some nipple pinching and some slapping. That girl knows how to have fun, even underneath all that cute shyness of hers! You will see what I mean when you try it! She goes nuts with that kind of treatment, and you go nuts as well with her reaction! Like I did!”
Pearl’s eyes went blank, with her remembering the night she had with the shy and screaming High Fairy. She quickly shook her head and continued:
“You are up for quite a few surprises, Alex. I also know a few tricks, and with both of us, you will have a hard time not going crazy. I don’t see a dress that I like to make you drool, but I saw a very good longbow in another shop with my name on it and I want to go there before we get back to the Castle. I was saving money to buy a new bow, mine is getting too old and damaged to last for long, one of these days it’s going to break, and as usual, it will be when I need it to work the most.”
Alex pointed to another section of the store where nightgowns and underwear were on display:
“What about something in there? I saw a interesting dark underwear that would look good with your skin tone.”
Pearl smiled to where he was pointing and said as she was pulling Anika to go with her:
“Come with me, you cutie! Let’s go find a dirty underwear for you to tempt him tonight! And one for me, because I have a Fairy that I need to ask for forgiveness!”
Alex mumbled in a low voice:
“I wanted for her to check one to tempt me… Damn, they are going to make me go crazy, it’s too much temptation…”