The street, at night

Luke glanced up from his conversation. He found himself enjoying himself quite a bit and not looking like a insane homeless man was doing wonders for his life with the ladies. "Good evening. This is my brother. Alistair, this is Lila and Myrtle."

Alistair smiled. "I see. Well, it's unfortunate, but I need to steal my brother back now. We have other things to do."

"Like what?" Luke responded with a frown. All the shops carrying legal substances were closed and he couldn't possibly think of anything they'd need to get done... oh right. The lord. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he stood and offered a smile to the ladies. "It's been nice chatting with you. Hope we can meet again sometime."

With that he stood up and offered them a wave and exchanged goodbyes. He then headed for the door of the bar with Alistair in tow, grumbling to him, "And just what's no important we need to get it done tonight?"

"We have to find a tailor. I'm sure there's one open still. It isn't all that late," Alistair answered.

Luke's eyebrows fell into an annoyed glare as he shoved his hands on his pockets and slouched over. "You offer an apprenticeship to the guy that took away a good year of my life, then interrupt a nice conversation, to drag me to a tailor who may or may not still be open? If you weren't my brother and didn't get me back my money... Okay, maybe it's not THAT bad. But why did you offer an apprenticeship to the twerp!?"

"Because I hate to see anyone in the profession giving the rest of us a bad name. Only an amateur or a true bastard would put someone out of more than they can afford... unless the mark truly deserved it, of course," Alistair explained. "From what I could deduce watching him today, he was only an amateur. He has yet to learn the proper ethics."

"Your entire profession is about swindling people out of money. You can't tell just 'ow much a person 'as saved up by glancing at them," Luke grumbled as he headed sown the street.

"Those that look dirt poor generally are. Those that aren't generally like to show they aren't."

"Unless someone's trying to dress up to be impressive. Several people dress above their class to avoid the shame of being a working class man or woman. Kind of a pity too, we wouldn't 'ave these problems if we follow Naughtsha's example," Luke responded.

Ahead on the right, a tailor shop was brightly lit by the street lamp right by the sign. An eelman inside was busy dusting his displays.

Alistair was surprised by his brother's sudden communist sentiments. "We'd have a whole slew of other problems though. People are still people, whatever nice platitudes you put on to describe their behavior."

"True enough, it's still a nice thought though. No classes, no nobility, no 'ave and 'ave nots, just people being people," Luke mused. "I can get behind that idea, though not the killing people for no other reason than they've got more money than you. Threatening someone's life is something you've got to be careful about."

"People are bastards. That's the natural state of affairs. Communists just can't admit it to themselves," Alistair answered.

"Maybe," Luke admitted, drooping again. "Maybe there's just no way to win." He moved to open the door of the tailor shop.

"Only way is to be on top when everything goes to hell," Alistair answered, moving ahead into the shop. "Good evening, My good sir," he jovially greeted the eel man. "We are in need of new suits."

"Good evening," Rang out the aquatic voice of the smiling eelman, the fins under his cheeks wiggling in greeting. "How many and of what styles?"

Luke remained where he was, trying to avoid the unblinking stare of the man. "Just a coat for me. Brown, comfortable, cheap," He tried to order.

"Poppycock," Alistair answered, waving away Luke's order with a hand. "Two suits for each of us with proper waistcoats. I daresay cobalt blue would be a suitable color for my brother over brown. Perhaps navy..." Alistair gave Luke an appraising look.

The eelman looked between the brothers, trying to figure out who was paying so he could decide who's order to go with. "Blue would be nice," He added in with a smile.

Luke on the other hand looked quite thrown off by the notion. "Blue? That's a dandy color. The sort of thing men who've never seen a good day of work in their lives would wear," He complained.

"It brings out your eyes," Alistair shot back. "They're your greatest asset. You should show them off." He turned to the eel man, "Wouldn't you agree?"

The eelman nodded sagely, trying to figure out the correct thing to say. Quite frankly, they bothered him a little more than regular human eyes and their eyelids. "They are quite lovely for eyes," He settled on.

"I'm not some sort of dame, I don't need to show off my eyes," Luke grumbled.

"Yes you do," Alistair insisted. "If you want to be taken seriously, you must." After a moment, he added, much to his own chagrin, "I am sure most ladies would agree."

"But being taken seriously isn't a priority. I want to avoid attention at all costs," Luke protested.

"You want to be absolutely plain and unappealing?"

"Exactly."

The tailor looked between the two then suggested, "Perhaps buy a suit then decide if you like it or not. Keep it for formal occasions if it's not good for regular day wear."

Luke paused, his brain reaching for an argument against that logic. With a grumpy expression, he grumbled, "Fine. You choose what you think looks best, but don't expect me to be wearing it more than once."

Alistair smiled at the eel man. "That is a wonderful idea. We may yet have my stubborn brother dressed as a human being," Alistair answered, then paused and amended, "a well-dressed person, in any case."

The eelman's smile widened a bit more. "Jolly good! Perhaps we should order your suits while we decide what is best for your brother..."

Luke grumpily moved to occupy a corner of the store while his brother and the eelman talked. He couldn't help but feel even more awkward getting fashion advice from a fish.