Valerie sighed as she hurriedly rushed into the costume store. It was October 29th, and she still didn't have a Halloween costume. She didn't mean to put off Halloween shopping until the last minute possible; but her life had been so busy lately!
The blond sighed and looked around, hoping to find an attendant who could point her towards a costume that had some dignity. The woman wasn't in the mood to buy anything silly; but unfortunately there didn't seem to be anyone on the floor to help her out.
Actually, for that matter, there didn't seem to be anyone in the store. She pursed her lips and cleared her throat loudly, hoping that someone would come out from the back.
A full minute passed before she sighed, massaging her temple. "I don't know what I was expecting..." She muttered, looking around the shop to try and find some sort of self-service checkout.
Thankfully, while the store was somewhat lacking in help, it did have a small booth labeled 'Self Service'. Her curiosity piqued, Valerie headed up to the small room and opened the door.
As expected, the interior had the same colorful wooden finish as the rest of the store; and there was a mirror along the back wall. What the woman didn’t expect was a small button above a drawer; a sign of some sort of hidden mechanism. There was a small sign on the button’s wall with instructions, and Valerie blinked in surprise. This was a little more complicated than she'd first thought.
"Thank you for entering the Costume Chooser. This machine will choose the best outfit for you possible, locking the door for convenience. After you change into your costume, the door will open and allow you to continue with your shopping, if such is what you still desire." Valerie read aloud, arching an eyebrow at the last words.
"Weird." She muttered, looking to the only button in the room. "Well, it's worth a shot..." She sighed, tapping it and quietly hoping that she'd get something good. As long as the title didn't have the word 'sexy'...
A loud rumbling filled the room, and the blond put her hands on the walls to steady herself as the booth shook gently. The door to her side audibly locked shut, and Valerie yelped with shock. It felt like there was some sort of earthquake going on; and she was locked in here! Her heart hammered in her chest as she worried the booth would tip; then the room stilled as quickly as it had begun to shake.
A small drawer under the button popped open, and Valerie looked down to it in slight surprise. "That's what this was about?" She laughed a little uneasily, rolling her eyes. Well, if a costume shop wanted to have a frightening changing room; more power to them. At least it resulted in her getting a costume.
And speaking of costumes... Valerie picked up the package, turning it to get a look at the name. Immediately her expression soured. "Sexy Mime." She said flatly, groaning. What kind of stupid machine was this? She wanted neither something silly nor sexy; how was this supposed to be her ‘best outfit’?
The blond turned to the door to leave, only to groan as she found it still locked. "Right. Forgot about that." She muttered with an angry glare, looking to the sign that reminded her she had to change in order to leave.
The woman blushed as she looked down to the packaged in her hands, unwrapping it to inspect the contents. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad....
Unfortunately, despite her silent wish, she was greeted with a short sleeve top and an obscenely short skirt that for some reason had suspenders. On the bright side, the beret, gloves, stockings, and flats looked to be perfectly in order; though the flats that came in the package were hardly stylish. The only thing that Valerie really hated about the package was the small container of white body paint it held.
"No way... Absolutely not." Valerie said with a scoff, putting that little container to the side. She might be able to bear the indignity of wearing a slutty mime’s costume; but there was no way in hell she’d be caught dead in that horrid white face paint.
With that in mind, the blond set to work. She quickly stripped, putting on her outfit one bit at a time. First was the tight striped shirt, a small affair that left a little more of her midriff visible than she’d like. Then came her skirt and stockings, the former giving her a little bit of an issue with her suspenders. Finally, she slipped her feet into the shoes and tugged the gloves on her hands, holding the beret in her hand as she turned to look at her reflection.
It was worse than she'd expected; the outfit made her look far more slutty than it did sexy. She pursed her lips and turned for the mirror, groaning at how high the skirt rode up on her hips. This was, hands down, the most revealing thing she'd worn in her life. She groaned, her shoulders sagging as she placed the beret atop her head.
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she turned towards the door, pressing on it only to find it still locked. Valerie whined loudly and looked down to the can of body paint, whimpering. "Really? I mean, really?"
No answer came, not that she expected it. The blush across her cheeks only intensified as she stripped out of the costume, baring herself once more. Then she twisted the top on the container of body paint, scooping out a hefty fingerful of the cream.
It was surprisingly light in her hands, almost like the moisturizer she used at night. Valerie tentatively held out her arm, wiping a streak of the cream onto her wrist. It stuck fast to her skin, leaving her smoothly dyed a thick opaque white.
"Well, it could be worse..." Valerie sighed, looking down to the small container in her hands. She scooped out a little more and covered her arms; then her legs. The white dye felt good on her skin; making her feel oddly warm and smooth. She actually smiled as she rubbed the dye over her belly, a shy smile on her face despite how humiliating it was to look like this.
"At least it's not a total loss." She said, turning to the mirror and painting her face a chalk-white. It looked really natural to be like this, and for a moment she entertained the idea of really showing up to the party as a mine-albeit as one with a more complete outfit.
She shook the thought from her head with a chuckle, knowing what her friends would think of her. Besides that; it felt a little gross to be wearing this thick white dye. She slipped once more into the mime costume, looking at her reflection again now that the outfit was complete.
Much to Valerie’s surprise, the white dye made all the difference. She was still dressed like a slut's depiction of a mime, but it didn't make her skin crawl to be seen in it. Of course, the blond was still disgusted by her appearance; but at least now it wasn't as bad as it could have been. As long as nobody saw her, that was…
The woman chuckled at the thought; then did a quick once-over to make sure everything was as it should be. Her suspenders were snug on her arms; her beret was held fast on her head; and her skin was white as could be. If that didn’t count as wearing her full costume; she didn’t know what did.
Just as she was ready to turn from the door, something in the mirror caught her eye. It was like there was some sort of spiral gently swirling behind her reflection, a pink thing that demanded all of her attention.
Valerie stared at it with a small smile on her face, wondering what surprise this booth held next. Thoughts of wanting to leave this booth and change to something a little more appropriate vanished from her head as she stared deeply into the hypnotic spiral. Instead, she just wanted to stare more and more into the swirl; to feel the warmth of being hypnotized.
It wasa good and numb feeling that left her mind completely relaxed; and the smile on her face only curled a little wider as she felt herself begin to get lost to a hypnotic trance.
Then she shook her head, a slight frown on her face as she realized what she was doing. "Hold on, hypnosis isn't real..." She muttered, looking back to the screen despite herself.
Again, it captivated her attention completely, and that same blank smile returned to her face. She just wanted to slip further into it; to embrace the reflection in the mirror as her own...
Or did she? Valerie's squirmed as she struggled mentally. Something wasn't right; she didn't like this costume because... Because... Her heart raced as she realized she couldn't remember the reason; then slowed in turn as she felt that there didn't need to be a reason.
Thoughts of panicking and running from the booth were the first to ebb from her mind. It was as though they were the ocean and the spiral was the moon, inexorably pulling them from the shores of her conscious self.
"I feel weird..." She said softly, her voice growing quieter as she gave a shy smile to her reflection, seeing her gorgeous mime's face in the reflection. Upon further reflection, there was a strange sort of comfort to be had with the appearance of a mime. She looked so pure and gorgeous, as though she...
No! What was she thinking? "I'm not a mime!" She hissed; blinking in shock at her hushed tone. "Wait, why am I whispering?" She asked quietly, beginning to panic once more. "I'm... I'm not a mime, I'm Valerie!" She proclaimed; her own name sounding somehow strange on her tongue.
"No, wait... That's not right; it's this stupid mirror. I'm not Valerie, I'm Valérie!" She proclaimed with another hushed hiss, nodding to herself at the sound of her natural name. Yes, that was right; the mirror couldn't Americanize her like that! She was Valérie, a natural French mime...
Again, she found herselg quietly whining, shaking her head to try and steady her thoughts. She knew that wasn't right; she definitely wasn't a mime! Even though she was a Frenchwoman who had trained in the craft, she hadn't decided to stay in it; had she?
The girl frowned to herself in the mirror intently, trying to discern some truth from her own reflection. Unfortunately for her, this had the added effect of gazing deeper into the hypnotic spiral; and Valérie found her mind growing quiet and blank once more.
A quiet smile grew on her face once again as her memories were subtly altered for her new body. Hypnotic stitching tailored her thoughts to her new form, and she began to accept her life as a mime; though her outfit was still a little undignified.
Of course, Valérie had to wear it in order to remain appealing to the American crowd; so she didn't hold too much resentment towards her clothes. On the bright side, they certainly showed off her curvy body; ensuring that all eyes would turn to her as she practiced her trade.
Yet something was still off... Valérie pursed her lips as she looked to her reflection, only for her eyes to widen as she realized that her skin was only white; missing all traces of her additional black dye.
A click behind her made her turn again, and she found that the empty drawer now held a small container of black face dye; a smooth cream that matched the same type she'd used on her face.
Valérie beamed quietly with delight, scooping it in her hands and pulling off a glove to apply it. She looked back towards the mirror with a smile on her face, ignoring the scream in her eyes. A quiet voice in her head pleaded for her to not put the dye against her skin and she dutifully ignored it.
She rubbed black circles onto her cheeks with a contented smile, listening to the quiet voice in her head slowly vanish. Of course Valérie had no idea that she was quietly erasing the voice of a woman known as Valerie; she only cared about completing her makeup so she could get back on the streets, performing her trade.
Valérie traced cute circles around her eyes with a silent giggle, grinning as she finally felt that little suspicious voice in her head fall silent. That was good; silent was good. After all, she was a mime, and mimes must be quiet.
Of course, mimes must also have dark hair… She pulled off her beret and pulled out a heaping handful of the black cream, massaging it into her scalp as though it was shampoo. The dye stuck just as fast to her hair as it did to her skin, and in seconds she had raven-black hair that left her devoid of color.
The girl grinned happily as she finished up her makeover with a little work on her lips, and the door behind herself clicked open. Perfect! She smiled widely and turned on her heel in a silly, overexaggerated manner; walking straight out the store and leaving her old clothes in a heap behind her.
After all, those weren't anything like what she usually wore; she had no idea why she'd ever walked into this store with them on! Yes, it was much more natural to wear this short and revealing outfit, showing off her assets for all of her potential contributors.
The door to the booth clicked shut behind her as she walked out of the store; but Valérie gave it no heed. After all, she didn’t need anything that was in there. The only things she’d ever need were the clothes she was wearing right now.
The mime greeted the outside air with a happy smile, waving for the benefit of the people around her and hurriedly miming an invisible wall before herself. Entertaining these people was her passion and her job alike, and the mime smiled with content as she started to turn some heads.
Even if most of them were eying how tightly her outfit hugged her chest and posterior; she didn’t care. The only thing she cared about was making the world believe that there was a glass wall before her-no, a glass box around herself!
She mimed that she was enclosed in a small container and was rewarded by laughter and even a few coins and bills. Valérie beamed happily as she slowly drew a crowd; settling into her new life as a mime and showing herself off with glee.