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Hello? Hello! This is Jack.

Um, I am in one of the back trailers in the second convoy. And I have found sewing supplies and more fabric, and I thought, well, some of us have been going through, erm, changes. These can be hard on our clothing or make wearing certain clothing difficult.

I am not the best tailor in the world, I cannot make a patch or mended tear invisible or create clothing from scratch, but I know how to mend very well if you do not need it to be invisible. Also I can probably take your old clothes and alter them to fit you better.

I will be down here all evening if you would like to stop by. I will try to be here most evenings after dinner but before bed in case anyone needs help fixing your clothes. Okay? Okay.

[And with that slightly distracted-sounding final note, as the sound of fabric rustling around marks him getting back to work, he signs off.

He will indeed be down in the shops section of the convoy all evening, working diligently to patch, mend, repair, and alter clothing for anyone who comes by. If no one comes by, he's working on his own clothes or trying to work out how to make a pattern so he can learn how to make clothes from scratch, preferably with as little wasted material on mistakes as possible. He has no idea if he will ever find more, after all.]

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Why don't you come down so that I can take some measurements? Maybe I can work on something while you look for something we can alter.

Alright. Be there later, then!

[And about half an hour later, he shows up at the back trailers of the second convoy, poking his head in after asking around.]

Are you Jack?

Jack is sitting at a table in one of the otherwise-empty shops in the middle of the trailer, a pile of fabric and some tracing paper laid out in front of him, as well as a round pincushion full of needles and pins. He looks up at the sound of someone coming down the narrow hall towards him.

"Yes? Yes, it's me, back here," he calls without getting up. The door to his little shop is propped open, so his voice carries.

The shop itself is small, with a bunch of empty shelves and a counter, and the aforementioned table. Not much to work with, but Jack isn't intending to sell things, so he doesn't need a lot of display area.

Leo hasn't poked around back here much, so he didn't even know all these "shops" were back here. He's looking around as he comes in, interested in the layout of it.

He raises a hand as he comes in, a smile on his face. This Jack looks like a normal human, at least so far, so Leo hopes he doesn't have the same reaction as Apollo to a mutant turtle coming through the door.

"Hey. I'm Leo." Since he didn't say that before. "I was the one offering to be your test dummy."

Is that what they call it, for clothes? Ah well, doesn't matter.

There is a moment of staring, but it's brief and results in Jack shaking himself out of it quickly. Jack's best friend is a walking, talking (sort of) tree, he's seen that level of weird before. Also, he has six fox tails, which become very obvious when he stands up from his table, coming over to offer Leo his hand like an old-fashioned sort of gentleman. "Hello! Hello. I can see why you are having trouble finding clothes that fit."

Aha, now there's some weirdness. Leo wonders if those are from coming here, or if Jack is some kind of yokai. Though probably a different one than he has back at home, since Leo caught that staring. Yokai from Leo's Earth wouldn't have batted an eye at him.

Leo has shaken very few hands in his life so instead of doing that he gives it a slap. A high-three, or low-three, in this case.

"Yeeeaaah, the shell doesn't make it easy." He lifts up one foot, revealing it is bare and nothing at all like a human's. "And shoes are pretty rough to find, too. Back home everything I have is a few sizes too big."

Leo actually does enjoy wearing clothes as a form of self expression, it's just getting things that fit that's a problem. It's why his usual go-to is a hoodie.

The high-five-slash-three surprises Jack a little, but he's from 2025. He's seen those before, so he just kind of grins and shakes his head.

He considers Leo's feet seriously a moment, then shakes his head. "I probably can't actually make you any shoes," Jack says apologetically. "Not real ones. I am not a cobbler, that's much more complicated than clothes. I could maybe make some sandals? Though I would need something sturdy enough for the base, I don't have anything here for that yet."

“Eh, that’s okay.” Leo waves it off. “I’ll probably find something eventually…”

He’s found ways around the problem back home and he can do it here, too. His scales protect him from most but the most extreme weather.

“Staying warm is more important. I have a little human in me, but I’m still mostly turtle.”

He enjoys a good heat lamp when it gets cold.

"It's very easy to lose heat through your hands and feet," Jack says sternly. "Also the top of your head. I will come up with something. Sandals with socks perhaps." Yes it's fashion taboo in some places, but frostbite is worse! By a lot! "But I am sure we can come up with trousers and maybe a poncho? That should not be too hard. And I already had to take apart my own trousers to deal with the tails, a little bit, so I sort of know how those work."

"Socks with sandals!?" Leo looks scandalized. "What do I look like, a single dad going through a midlife crisis?"

No thank you! He doesn't sound very excited about the poncho idea, either...

"Why am getting the feeling this won't be fashionable..."

"If you want fashionable, get me quality fabrics and give me six months to learn how to build clothing properly," Jack sniffs at him. "I am what you have right now, and you said you do not want to be cold. So I will try to keep you from being cold."

“Uuuuugh…”

Man, this sucks. But Jack is right that this is currently his only option.

“Fine, whatever. Let’s do it.”

"I can let you pick a color," Jack offers by way of potential mollification. He does have to add, apologetically, "From a somewhat limited range. But still."

He turns back to the cabinets behind his work table, opening them to show the rolls, folded stacks, and less-folded scavenged fabrics. The colors are indeed limited, but there's still some to choose from. Should he want his trademark color, there is full roll of some blue jersey.

"Well, blue is always my signature color," he says, giving his mask tails a flip like they're the ends of his hair.

He comes over to take a look, pulling at the blue fabric. Interesting...

"Blue's gotta be an easy color to find, right?"

He knows nothing about fabrics or dyeing.

"I'm trying not to hope I will find intact fabric big enough to actually make full clothes from," Jack warns. "Most of what I have scavenged so far is only a yard or two at most. If you like blue, this might be the best to work with for now. There is enough here for me to make a few things with, probably." It's one of the more complete rolls of fabric. Maybe the leaders of this convoy thought blue would be popular.

As it should be, because it's the best color!

Leo nods along. He knows it's too much to hope for a whole color-coordinated wardrobe, but he's happy to get a few things.

"A few things is all I really need," he says, waving it off. "Like I said, I just want to get too cold. ...And I don't know, maybe I need to protect against sunburn...?"

He actually doesn't know if turtles can get sunburn. Huh.

"Something with a hood maybe. Or a scarf?" Jack humms, and picks up a fabric tape measure. "All right, I will need to measure you. I have to be sure I use enough fabric, you know? I will try to be quick." He doesn't get the feel from Leo that he's like SecUnit and wants to be touched as little as possible, but he also isn't going to be excessive about it.

Leo is pretty touchy feely with his family… but then, Jack is not his family. Still, he won’t tense up or anything while Jack takes measurements.

“Oooh, fancy. I’ve only been measured once before.”

And it was years ago now.

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