“Yes, I like this shade,” Victor explains.
“Why blue?” Clarence probes.
Victor is slightly confused by Clarence’s question. “Why does it matter?”
“It matters,” Leo answers.
Victor takes one of the blue shirts and a tie, a few shades darker than the shirt. “It was my mother’s favorite color. And it’s mine too.”
Clarence folds the other shirts over their arm. “That’s good enough for me. Now, get dressed in room four. I also left several pairs of shoes for you to try on.” Victor gathers the garments and scurries over to the dressing room.
Several moments later, Victor emerges dressed in his new suit and shiny new black shoes.
Clarence nods with approval, and Leo is in awe.
“What do you think?” Victor asks.
“You look stunning,” Clarence responds as they snap their fingers. The snap sounds like a crystal chime in the air.
“Now, I see why you took all those other measurements,” Victor comments as he looks at himself in the mirror. “Who knew I could have a snatched waist?”
Clarence walks over to Victor and takes a lint roller to the suit. “Tell me your cock and ass don’t feel like they’re floating on a cloud in this suit.”
Victor looks at Leo in the mirror. “What do you think?”
Leo snaps out of his trance. “You look great. I got a couple of gifts for you while you were getting dressed.” He hands Victor two boxes: one is a small, square box, and the other, a long, slender box.
Victor opens the small box, revealing a black and silver watch. “Thank you, Leo.”
“You’re welcome,” Leo smiles as he helps Victor place the watch around his wrist. “This watch not only tells time but helps you keep track of your energy when you start to use magic. That way, you can learn how to conserve energy but still throw a powerful attack. This will be a great tool for your lessons.”
Victor opens the long, slender box. “A dagger?” He picks up a small, silver dagger with a blue handle and a sapphire gem embedded at the end of the handle.
Leo pulls a sheath with a clip on the side from the box. He opens Victor’s jacket and clips the sheath inside one of the pockets. “You’ll learn that sometimes blood will be needed, so you will need something to prick your finger or slice your hand. It’s also useful if you need to open letters or defend yourself from an attack.”
Leo closes and buttons Victor’s jacket, then smooths out the sleeves. He pulls out a solid silver tie clip from his pocket, attaching it to Victor’s tie, and pats it. “There, that looks good.”
Clarence and Leo take a few steps back as Victor turns back to the mirror.
Victor looks at himself in the mirror. “I know I wear a suit while working, even though it’s a uniform. But this feels and looks different.”
“That’s because you feel and look different,” Clarence mentions. “No other suit will ever look or feel the same now that you start wearing this. And I’ll select another shirt and tieto complement your dark blue suit. Take both, and remember to dry clean, don’t wash.”
Clarence walks away while Victor keeps looking at himself in the mirror. “You ready to go?” Leo asks.
“Where are we going?” Victor responds to Leo in the mirror.
Leo steps up next to Victor and smiles back at him in the mirror. “Well, you mentioned that you should get dinner for getting undressed the way you did. So, let’s go have dinner.”
Chapter Nine
Leo takes Victor to a fancy restaurant. Victor feels confident in his new custom- tailored attire. When Victor walks inside, he looks around. “I feel like I need my credit checked just to walk in here,” Victor comments.
The restaurant is the typical upper-class style you would find in Manhattan. Victor’s eyes adjust to the dim, artfully arranged lighting, revealing plush velvet banquettes, dark wood accents, and polished marble floors. A low hum of sophisticated conversations and the clinking of delicate silverware. Waiters in crisp, black-and-white uniforms glide silently between tables, carrying meticulously presented dishes that look more like works of art than food.
Leo laughs and places a hand on the small of Victor’s back, leading him over to a table waiting for them. When Victor looks at the menu, the cheapest item is twenty-five dollars.
“I don’t know if I can afford any of this,” Victor says dismally. “I might make good money, but I don’t make $50 steak dinner money.”
