“Here, let’s see how this one looks.” I said while holding up another top towards the motionless, almost catatonic, form of Mira. I tried to imagine then, how it might look on her if she were to actually wear it. “Hmm…”

“You’ve said the exact same thing for the past six shirts you’ve held up to my torso.” Mira replied with little in the way of emotion, but just enough so that I could tell she was not super into modeling new outfits for me.

“Yep.” I replied simply with an added smile of amusement.

“Is… all of this really necessary?” Mira protested weakly.

“Is what necessary?” I asked while going back to browsing another group of nearby blouses on display.

“This. Kidnapping me from your house, conscripting me into your service as a living mannequin and food taster, asking me more and more questions about things that have nothing to do with the project we were scheduled to work on together.” Mira blurted out in a subdued but also energetic burst of words. “Why?”

I put the blouse I had been examining back down onto the table where it had originated from, and did a cautious look in the direction that my Dad had been waiting for us at.

There he was, still people watching just inside the store we were in, well away from where Mira and I were standing at the moment. Good enough.

“Because Mira, I’m just trying to get to know you better.” I said in as calm and polite a voice as I could manage. “Also, I haven’t kidnapped or conscripted you. I politely offered to take you shopping with us, to which you agreed.”

“Only after you shamelessly bribed me with more free stuff.” Mira pouted slightly while trying to hide her face from me.

“Yes well, I was only using the best weapon I had at hand.” I smiled sweetly.

“Bribery.” Mira pointed out.

“Uh-huh.” I replied happily.

“Typical IDPA.” She said petulantly.

“Hmm, yeah, about that.” Eureka, this is the perfect segue into the stuff I did want to talk with her about. “What exactly is it that you have against the IDPA? Am I really even technically part of it? I mean I know we are meant to work together, but the relationship seems pretty… informal to me.”

“That’s probably just because you're still pretty new.” Mira said with a shrug. “The IDPA is just like the servants and peons for you supernaturals, but only once you’ve gotten pretty strong though.”

“And what about till then?”

“Dunno, you’re chaperone or nanny I guess?” She shrugged again.

“That seems like a pretty biased perspective. How much time have you actually spent with someone from the IDPA?” I asked with a raised eyebrow before going back to perusing the tops on the table I was standing in front of.

“Um, I guess that depends on what you mean. How many different IDPA agents have I met? A lot. How many IDPA agents have I hung out with and gotten to know on a buddy-buddy shopping trip where we give each other clothes to try on? Just you, I think.” She said with a small smirk.

“I already said, I’m not really an IDPA agent. They just help me, and I help them.” I said grumpily. “It’s not like a have a badge or anything.”

“Does that matter.” Mira muttered eyeing the new top I had pressed up against her warily. “Do you really mean to tell me that if you didn’t call someone from the IDPA right now and said I was doing something illegal, that they wouldn’t all swoop down here and arrest me?”

“...I don’t know.” I said, while honestly having had a pretty good idea that what Mira said, was probably true.

“I bet you they would, and for me, that’s saying something.” Mira said with a more pronounced frown now.

“You really don’t like them, do you?” I asked her, lowering the top I had been holding up to give her my full attention now.

“Of course not. Look, I know this is all still new to you, Jenni, but for us, those who’ve had to live like this all our whole lives, the IDPA isn't that great.” She said in a strong but quiet voice. “You might think they're like the police or something, but that's only a reasonable comparison for the good ones. Take that however you like.”

Mira turned away from me then and sat down in a nearby chair, crossing her arms and obviously sulking.

Replacing the top back onto the table once more, I walked over to where Mira was now sitting.

“You're right, I am still really new to all of this, and I don’t know how things have been for you, or others like you.” I said to her earnestly. “But I sincerely, truly want to know and understand how things actually are. I think it’s important for me to understand that.”

Mira didn’t say anything for a long while then. She just continued sitting there staring down at her lap, deep in thought. Eventually though, she did slowly look back up at me, staring into my face, searching for something in my eyes or expression.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Why?” Was all she said.

Taking a moment to give her a proper answer. I finally said, “Because I don’t want to be like them, the people in the IDPA that you hate.”

“Go on.” Mira instructed while still keeping her arms crossed in front of her and tucked tightly up against her body.

“I… don’t want to oppress or mistreat anyone. Mundane, paranatural, or anyone, it doesn’t matter. I believe you when you say that the people at the IDPA can abuse their positions, but I can’t exactly do anything about it if I don’t know what exactly is going on or understand why.”

“You’re still too new and weak anyways. Don’t bother trying to stop them. You’ll just get yourself killed, quickly and without any warning.” Mira coldly warned.

“By the IDPA?” I asked in genuine surprise.

“Maybe, more likely another supernatural would come after you for stepping on their toes. Messing around with how the IDPA operates would for sure be stepping on some super’s toes, likely one way stronger than you are right now.” Mira started to relax her posture slightly as she said this.

“Alright, see this is what I want to know.” I said with a reassuring smile on my face. “Don’t mess around with IDPA bureaucracy or I’ll wind up dead. Got it.”

Rolling her eyes now, Mira finally uncrossed her arms and relaxed back into the chair she was sitting in.

“So, you ready to actually try on some of the outfits we picked out?” I asked Mira happily.

“Ugh, do I have to?” Mira replied like petulant she was.

“If I said that was an order, would you listen?” I asked with a small smirk visible on my face.

Mira squinted her eyes at me before letting out a defeated sigh and standing back up.

“Fine, just give me the stuff you want me to wear.” Mira grumbled.

Handing her the neatly folded first set of clothes, I walked with her to the changing area, carrying the rest in my hands.

After Mira went behind the curtained off area I had indicated for her and shut it, I did a quick search of the other changing booths to see if any were occupied at the moment. Luckily for me, none of them were right now.

“So are you feeling more comfortable now, talking about yourself?” I asked Mira from the other side of the changing room curtain.

“Uh, I mean, no, but you can still ask I guess.” She muttered. The sounds of her futzing around with the outfit I had given her could be heard from over on my side of the curtain.

That was a good enough reply for me. Time to see if I can actually start getting her to open up about any of the stuff I saw in my dream.

“So, what do your parents do? For work I mean.” I asked in as innocent a tone as I could.

“Um, well Mom runs her own small shop. She mostly sells potions and other alchemical supplies.” Mira responded, her voice noticeable a bit more apprehensive about telling me this fact.

“Ah, what about your Dad then?”

“He, well, he’s a full-blooded elf, so you know…” Mira replied cryptically.

“Um no, I don’t. I’m new remember.”

“Gah, stupid buttons.” Mira growled, almost inaudibly. “Uh, well elves can be a bit… quirky, personality-wise, compared to what most humans are used to.”

“You don’t say.” I said while mentally filing that tidbit of information away, and noting how it might explain Mira’s odd behavior somewhat. “So, does he help out at your Mom’s shop then?”

“Nah, he mostly travels around the world and the near-realms. I’ve only really seen him a handful of times in my whole life, to be honest.” Mira admitted quietly before quickly opening the heavy curtain that was separating her.

Not knowing at all how to respond to something as heavy as that right away, I took the chance to examine how she looked in her new outfit.

It was a simple black button-up shirt, paired with some blue distressed denim jeans. The black cotton top accentuated her figure in the right places, and perfectly complemented the laid-back vibe of the distressed jeans she was now wearing. It wasn’t a revolutionary new look, but she did look really nice in it I thought. Enough so that I smiled involuntarily at the reveal.

“Well?” Mira demanded grumpily.

“You look amazing.” I loudly declared. “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror yet?”

“N-no, why would I?” Mira responded a bit anxiously.

“Ah come on, come here, let’s show see how you look in the mirror that’s in the changing room over there.” I said while twirling Mira around on her feet and leading over to the aforementioned mirror.

“We really don’t have to. I already know what the clothes look like. I don’t need to see…” Mira continued to complain as I presented her in front of the large, well-polished mirror that adorned one of the dressing room walls.

“See? Don’t you think you look great in that outfit?” I asked sincerely.

Reflexively pressing her hair down to the sides, Mira seemed desperate to cover up her ears while we were both looking in the mirror at her.

“Mira…?” I said to her softly. “You don’t need to do that. I already know that you're a half-elf.”

“I-I know that, I just… I don’t like seeing them is all.” She admitted while looking down and bundling her hands up into fists out of stress.

Turning her away from having to look in the mirror, I paused to look over the now much more anxious and shy Mira than I had been talking to just a few seconds earlier.

“Do you… really dislike your ears that much?” I asked in a low tender voice.

“It’s… complicated.” She admitted.

Not really knowing what else to say or do then, I just wrapped Mira up in a tight hug, making sure that she wasn’t facing the mirror as I did so.

“W-what are you doing?” Mira almost squeaked.

“Giving you a hug dummy.” I informed her.

“Y-yeah, but why?” She asked desperately.

“Because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.” I reasoned.

Now Mira was the one at a loss for what to say or do, so she did the only thing left she could think of, and just let it happen.

We stayed like that for what felt like almost a full minute, until finally I separated from her, and looked her in the eyes again.

“Feeling any better now?” I asked with a hesitant and uncertain expression on my face.

“Y-yeah. Maybe. I think so.” Mira finally concluded, rubbing her now slightly red-rimmed eyes.

I took a couple of small steps back then to give her some space.

It was at that moment that I fully decided that I wanted to really be friends with this girl, with Mira. Not just as project partners, nor for investigating her about possible criminal misconduct, not even for whatever quest or vision I had received, but just because I wanted to.

With that decision made, I knew what I needed to do now. I needed to come clean with her.

“Mira, there’s something I need to tell you about.” I said to her solemnly.