"Looking for something custom?" they asked.
"Yes," Nathan said without hesitation. "Something charming."
The attendant smiled with practiced ease.
Elara glanced at the price tags and did not smile.
"Let's not go bankrupt on the first floor," she said.
"You only live once," Nathan muttered. He held up a coat and raised both eyebrows. It had pointed cuffs, folded high collar, and silver thread laced through in constellations.
Merlin stayed near the entrance. His eyes skimmed the walls without focusing on any one item.
'Too much noise. Everything here is a conversation waiting to start. None of it is meant to last.'
Elara picked up a jacket lined with reversible scales. She ran her thumb across one panel. It shifted from forest green to a wine red, then back again.
"This would survive your firework habit," she said to Nathan without looking up.
"I don't have a firework habit."
"You do if it has a fuse and I have to yell at you to drop it."
