All disclaimers apply.

Note: Gonna hop on this horse again, see how far I can get. Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed since the last update and before; you make me believe I can fly, you gaiz.

086. Choices: Trish models a few new looks for Dante.

"Too hardcore." Dante squinted. "And not in the good way." He liked head-to-toe leather as much as the next man, but there was a line between "stylin'" and "comes with a matching face hood".

Trish looked thoughtful. "Hm. How about this." She subtracted about eighty percent of cover - twenty percent more than would escape public indecency laws.

He grinned. "Now, that's the good way. But...now I kinda don't wanna share."

She rolled her eyes. "Ass."

One of the perks of having a girl who could self-generate her own clothing was never having to sit in the changing room area with the other losers holding her purse (or in Trish's case, her holsters).

Another perk was that he didn't have to share closet space. He had an image to maintain, after all, and couldn't be caught with the same look every year. What kind of stylish points would that get him?

The downside was...well, Dante couldn't think of any. Especially not while watching sparks of pale lightning create the laces of skintight leather boots that formed oh-so-smoothly to long, long legs, from spiked heels to the tops of her thighs. The outfit was completed with a subtle flourish, leather pants, matching lace-up arm warmers, and an impossibly tiny top that did wonderful things to her breasts.

"Well?" she said after awhile.

"Hm?" he said dreamily, studying the laces as if trying to break a secret code - or figure out how anyone would manually get out of boots like those.

As if he ever wanted to her to get out of them.

"Dante."

He zipped his eyes back to her face. "Yeah! Yeah. I approve. But..."

"What?"

"The boots. Not enough skin."

Trish looked down, frowning a little. "They reach almost up to my ass. I'd have to wear micros at least this short - " with a few quick sparks, she demonstrated how short to give him an idea, which in turn gave him ideas - "to make it all go together, Dante." Silence. "Dante?"

"...mhmeh?"

"Dante!"

He jumped. "Yes!"

"Okay, the boots are out." They vanished, replaced by her standard issue heels.

It was like watching an oasis reveal itself to be a mirage in the desert. "Aw, come on. They're nice boots. I like the boots."

"You'll be so busy drooling over the boots that you'll get your head chopped off by a Sin Scissor."

"There are worse ways to die."

Trish looked torn between hitting him and hitting him until she knocked him out. "You keep this up, I'm asking Nevan."

In truth, Nevan would probably be more helpful; she certainly had as much style as he did and less of it was motivated by puerile lust. But then he would be deprived of the fashion show and that simply wouldn't do. He held up his hands in surrender. "All right, all right. Serious face on. Next one."

This one was closer in design to the outfit she'd worn when they first met, only it was clear more detail had gone into it. Dante especially appreciated the intricate curlicue stitching along the bust and the little lightning bolt zipper in the front. And not just because it gave him an excuse to stare at her breasts and offered much easier access, either. Actually, it was more modest than he'd expected. It worked within the laws of physics, for instance. The leather didn't seem quite so painted on, and the bustier seemed to stay up using more than a prayer.

"Wait," he said before he passed full judgment, "let me see the boots."

The zipper was on them, too. Nice. They were a mournful distance away from the thigh-highs, but they were still pretty sweet. Altogether, it was easily the best outfit so far.

"Top three?" she asked.

He considered. "Number one. Although I really think the assless chaps had possibilities..."

"You wear it first and maybe I'll think about it."

"That s'posed to be a challenge, hon? Because I'll go out right now and - "

"Never mind," she cut him off, but she was smiling. "I don't want to share, either."

He pushed himself off his desk and walked around her in a little circle so he could see the full package. She could never go wrong with skintight leather. "So is that it? You stickin' with this look?"

"Well, to start. This one outfit is hardly a selection."

"A woman after my own heart." Dante grinned. "But we've already been at it for awhile, and you know me and my attention span."

Trish's slender eyebrow went up. "Oh, really." She stepped back, and lightning enveloped her entire form. When it dissipated, she was wearing the incredible boots again.

The boots - and nothing else.

"I have your attention now?"

He smirked. "Undivided."

care to slip into something a little more comfortable?