"Scaring the kid?" Bo'ra scoffed. Magical needles appeared out of thin air around her. They glowed the same fiery energy her hair had. She took a step forward, her sandals clacking along the ground. "You still owe me after your fiasco and you come in here with him as collateral?!?"
The needles flew straight for Zixin. Most of the needles flew past, hitting the door and wall behind him as he kept a calm composure. Many needles hovered mere centimeters away from his face as he glanced in Keng's direction.
"You should go sit off to the side. I forgot I had unfinished business with the shopkeeper." Zixin told him, like, everything was going to be fine. Keng inches away from Zixin and the magical needles. He stumbled into a chair and sat, almost spilling his bucket of kebabs.
"Why should I do anything for you?" Bo'ra asked. "You still haven't apologized and done me an immense favor for burning down my merchandise." She moved closer as Zixin kept his eyes on her. The needles were so close to his face and shoulders.
"I told you I would compensate for it but you had a–" Zixin began to say when the needles pressed into his skin.
"I what?" Bo'ra angrily asked quietly. She was in his face now and probably would've moved closer to Zixin but the needles were the way.
"You, uh, told me, uh, we could, uh do that later." Zixin gulped. Bo'ra flared at him for a while until she finally stepped away. The magical needles dissipated and she moved to the left side of the room. There was a raised platform with a mirror in front of it. She stood next to it and clicked her tongue. Zixin let out a sigh and lowered his head a bit so he could scratch the back of his neck.
"What's it gonna be?" Bo'ra sighed. She looked over at Keng. Keng could tell she was still frustrated but didn't want to necessarily throw out a customer.
"Outfits for moving about, fighting. That sort of thing." Keng cleared his throat as he stood up.
"You're an adventurer or something?" Bo'ra asked. Keng nodded. She sighed and turned to face him and motioned. "Get over here. Stand on top of this." She raised her foot to clack against the wooden platform box a couple times.
Keng nodded and set his food down and stood on top of the box. He awkwardly stared at himself in the mirror in front of him. The white hair with streaks of gold were now accompanied by black strands of hair. The outfit in him kinda looked too big on him now that he was registering what he looked like.
"Stay still for awhile. I'm measuring you." Bo'ra told him. Orange fiery strings flew around and began to move around his body. The strings began to wrap around and line up against his different body parts.
Bo'ra simply wrote in the air as a measurement was taken. When she was done, the magic stopped and she stood on the platform. Keng could feel her chest push into his back as he moved forward a bit.
Bo'ra grabbed his face and straightened it forward. She narrowed her eyes and nodded, making a noise like she was satisfied with what she saw. She turned him around as she stepped off and looked at his feet.
"Lift you foot for me." She instructed. Keng did as he was told and Bo'ra didn't hesitate to grab it and look at it. "Traditional doesn't look good with these." She told him. She let go and circled him a couple of times. "Tell me your name, kid."
"Uh, it's Keng." Keng introduced himself awkwardly.
"Keng. You're that interesting Fox Spirit everyone's been talking about for awhile. Just when it quieted down, you showed up, again." Bo'ra told him. She came back to be original spot and nodded. "This'll do. I assume Zixin paying for this?"
"Elder Jyu'so and Gorrum asked me to bring him here." Zixin told her.
"You're paying them." Bo'ra nodded.
"Bo–" Zixin was cut off by a hand. Bo'ra was definitely interested in Keng. He had good proportions.
"Take it off." Bo'ra motioned.
"H-huh?" Keng tilted his head to the side.
"Take off the outfit. Let me see your body. I can't make clothes that aren't shaped to your exact body. The magical materials I use work best if I know who I'm dealing with."
"Uh, well–" Keng looked over at Zixin. He had sat in the spot Keng was in and was munching on Keng's bucket of food. Before Keng could give an answer, Bo'ra moved her index finger at Keng and the clothes fell to the ground.
Keng stood bare naked in front of Bo'ra. He stood there for what felt like forever. Zixin looked up and noticed Keng had male genitalia and nodded. Keng noticed Zixin was nodding and Keng turned to look at him.
"W-what are you doing?" Keng asked.
"Hmm, seems like you finally chose your identity." Zixin commented with his mouth full. Keng looked at Zixin, who gave him a thumbs up before he grabbed another kebab and ate it.
"Not bad." Bo'ra nodded. She spun her finger around and the platform below Keng began to slowly move. Keng slowly turned and quickly realized he had male sex parts now.
"OH MY GOD." Keng immediately covered himself. "When did this happen?!? No wonder why you were staring!" He looked over at Zixin who pulled the skewer out of his mouth and drop it in the bucket.
"Stay still, dear. I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm just doing my job." Bo'ra instructed.
"But!" Keng's butt stood in front of Bo'ra. She nodded and scribbled something in the air.
"Oh, he has a nice butt, too!" Zixin commented. Keng removed his hands from his genitals and tried to cover his butt. He stared into the mirror and realized his dick and balls were just hanging there and he yelped as he went to cover them.
"Zixin. Nobody gave him the talk about keeping an identity?" Bo'ra looked at Zixin, who had five skewers in his mouth.
"Naur (No)." Zixin answers by pulling the skewers out of his mouth. Bo'ra swiped at the air filled with measurements and pulled the magical writing into her hand and wandered to the right.
"I think now's the best time. I'll create undergarments and shoes in addition to his outfits. How many did the Elder specify?" Bo'ra asked, popping into the back.
"At least a week's worth." Zixin answers, standing. He walked over to Keng, who was scrambling to grab the traditional outfit. Keng wrapped it around his lower body and looked at Zixin with such embarrassment. His face was red.
"Hahahah!" Zixin laughed. "Don't be too shy, Keng. I've seen it all. It's normal."
"What? How is this normal! I didn't even know this would happen!" Keng stuttered. "I thought that Fox Spirits we're genderless!"
"They are and they aren't." Zixin shrugged. Keng moved back and forth on top of the platform as Zixin watched. "We aren't, initially, until we settle into our Vessels."
"Huh? But Lee Seng, he's…"
"Yes, you two are different when it comes to these sorts of things but it seems not even that can deter you from growing a literal pair." Zixin chuckled.
"Zixin!" Keng shouted. He stomped as he ruffled his hair in frustration. "Now's not the time to be making jokes like that! What do I even do?!? How do I make it go away?!?" Zixin wiped away his tears as he focused on the seriously angry Keng in front of him.
"You can't. A lot of species have a male and female identity. Humans are apart of that too. Once you and Lee Seng gained the ability to shapeshift, you basically started to figure out your identity within the both of you. And you chose male."
"I thought there were Fox Spirits like Chimera who could be genderless."
"Yeah, but they're rare in and of itself. Just like how there are humans who look both male and female. It's a rare occurrence in general. Are you upset about having male genitals?"
Keng sighed and hopped off the platform. He turned to look at Zixin, who was waiting for his reply. Keng shook his head and moved past him. He went to his bucket and noticed it was empty.
"You ate it all?" Keng looked at Zixin in frustration. "I was gonna finish that!"
"You didn't say anything, so I just ate it." Zixin shrugged. "Look, growing a penis, scrotum and a pair of testicles ain't that bad. You'll be fine." Keng lowers his head. He wasn't necessarily mad at that. He began to turn to look at Zixin when Bo'ra came out with a bunch of clothes.
"All done?" Bo'ra asked. "Come grab an undergarment. All of these clothes have been modified to your measurements. We'll try on some clothes and you can pick what you like." Keng did as he was told and grabbed some boxer briefs and put them on. He pulled off the traditional outfit and tossed it at Zixin.
"Having an identity has its pros and cons, but you'll come to appreciate it, dear." Bo'ra told Keng. "Now, back up on the platform. Let's try out some outfits and figure out anything else you need, alright?"