Through the theater doors, and what Risiko found there

Audi sighed, shaking her head. She wasn't sure herself anymore. But it seemed that humans simply had more opportunities available to them, they achieved more, they set the rules because they had the right to. They created everything that mattered.
"Humans are better." she said sadly, giving a shrug. She would still still strive to be the best she could, of course, but try as she might, she would never reach the level humans could.
"They own the world."

Risiko looked around. "I don't know how you want me to respond to that. But anyways" he said as he started to head backstage "I came here to find interesting things. I've found one. Want to see if there are any more?". Risiko turned back and smiled at Audi

She stood still for a moment more, dejected. But, really... there was nothing she could do, was there? And there were other things to do, like Risiko said - exploring. Putting on a smile that was only half-forced, Audi turned around, hitching up the ends of her skirts to avoid getting entangled again and rushed after the man. "There's costumes." she said, nodding to her attire, then glancing sidelong at him. "Want to dress up?"
Oh, a model... how excellent it would be!

Audi had his full attention now. "Wait, what?" Risiko asked, clearly unprepared for the question. He looked off to the right, feeling very awkward. Well... he did like old clothing. Top hat, white tie and tails, arrow collars and spats.
"Er... alright then" he said hesitantly.

A hiss-like, gleeful giggle escaped her as she rushed forward to the rack of costumes she had been browsing just moments before, some of the clothes she was trying on still scattered on the floor. Quickly shuffling through the rows of hangers, she threw Risiko a brief glance. "Undress." she said, then continued her searching. What would he look the best in...? Or... the worst?

"What?!" Risiko asked out of unbelief, shocked. He didn't know what Rat-people 'Rattus Sapiens?' thought Risiko were like, either individually or as a culture, but this one, Audi, seemed to have vastly different views regarding modesty. He noted the giggle. Was this her plan all along?
"What, just here?" he asked, still taken aback

Audi picked out one of the hangers, a sequined waistcoat on it. Turning around, she held it out over the silhouette of Risiko a few steps away, as if trying it on him, and she squinted critically. Not really his style. Tutting, she replaced it on the rack and continued browsing, giving merely a shrug and a 'mhm' in confirmation to his question. She saw no problem with undressing whatsoever and was too preoccupied with this new opportunity and excited about it to notice that he did.

"Er, no, that is not going to happen." Risiko responded and walked over to one of the other racks of clothing. He started going through them, and tried to act as if sorting though old clothing at a strange school with a rat-person who wanted him to strip was normal. "What kind of clothing are you looking for?" he asked over his shoulder, but still looking at the rack.
'At this rate, being just a human is an oddity' he thought.

Audi threw him a perplexed glance over her shoulder, having no idea what was the problem. When he joined her in the search, she let out a light huff and returned to looking through the clothing herself. So was he going to do it or not?
"The kind you'd look good in." she couldn't help but state dryly, with a tone of slight accusation. She meant well, and Risiko had at first agreed, so why was he changing his mind now? Such ungratefulness. She only wanted to make him look cool. Pulling back her shoulders in indignation, the tip of her tail flicking, Audi decided to focus on clothing for herself instead as she browsed through the costumes.

Making a few spaces for the pieces he liked, Risiko strolled through the rack quickly. He looked over at the sound of her tone. "Something the matter?" he asked before being distracted. "Ah!" he exclaimed, pulling out the costume in question. It was a peaked collar, three button, black pinstripe suit with bold, thin, white stripes. "What if we did this" holding it up, he ran over to another bookmarked section of the rack. "With this?" a double breasted grey waistcoat. Risiko carefully put the hangers at the end of the hanger before a run over to a pile boxes for accessories. He rummaged through them, "aaaaaand these" he said, pulling out black dress shoes and spats.
Gathering all the items together, he went in search of a panel, curtain or some sort of dressing room. "I'll be right baaack~" he said over his shoulder.

She only uttered a disgruntled grumble in response to his question, not sparing him a glance. At his exclamation, though, she had to look, and she squinted as she watched him collect the pieces of clothing. She was still a bit grumpy... but... his choices could work together, and his enthusiasm was contagious. In the light of that, Audi decided she'd forgive his eccentric behavior from before.

She glanced to him as he left to change, then ducked down to rummage through the boxes underneath the clothes rack. A wide-brimmed grey fedora or a shiny black top hat...? In the end, she took both for him to try and walked in the direction he'd disappeared in.

"Risiko?

There was a small changing curtain in the corner. Risiko sauntered out, and saw Audi.
"Well doll, what d'you think of my swanky glad rags?" The getup was mixed, which resulted in a jacket a bit short, and the waistcoat a big large. The trousers would have been considered extremely long for modern times, but, true to the era, Risiko had them around his waist (that is to say, where the waist is anatomically- between the ribs and hip bones). They led down to his shoes, which were also clad in the spats he found.
"Say, those are some fancy hat-skis you got there. But I've no morning coat, so the top-hat's right out"

Audi stared expectantly at the curtain he had surely disappeared behind and couldn't help a snicker when he left its cover. Both the mismatched outfit and what he said were amusing, if the latter also a bit amusing. She didn't know any other people who spoke like that. Still chuckling a little, she looked down to the head-wear she was carrying then approached him to hand over the fedora. She then took a step back, squinting and rubbing her chin as she looked him over critically.

"You need a cane." she decided, immediately turning around to zoom back to where the costumes were stored. Audi understood that due to some mysterious rules, apparently wearing a top hat without whatever a morning coat was was out of the question, but the rules themselves were alien to her. Still, she was familiar with the style he was reproducing enough to match a fitting cane as well as a waistcoat in a smaller size, and she rushed back to stuff them into Risiko's arms excitedly. "Come on!"

Risiko removed his jacket and waistcoat, replacing it with the more fitted one, and donned the jacket again. He took the cane and let is swing a few times in his hands. He snapped out of character. "While I do appreciate the effort, the walking stick, or cane, generally belonged to the fashion of top hat, white tie and tails, and by the 1920's was not part of the usual accessories. Still" he tapped it back and forth a few times. "It does have it's uses."

Audi took a step back and watched his change, a smile on her face. He looked perfect! When he spoke up, though, the smile faded slowly, and she tilted her head in confusion. So he was correcting her yet again...? It didn't sound like he was making it up as he went just to debase her, though, and he was a human after all, so he was probably right, but... Indignation flickered within the ratgirl regardless as she turned up her chin somewhat. "I don't like that." she stated. "Limiting."
She gave a light shrug, glancing down to her own chaotic attire. She wouldn't have anybody telling her what to wear. Scrunching up her nose, she looked up to Risiko again. "Who made those rules?"

Risiko smiled at the opportunity to express his knowledge on the subject. He started quickly. "Good question. Most of them are tradition, stemming from either old functionality or subtle appearances. For example, men's jackets and trousers button left over right because most men dressed themselves, whereas women might have someone helping them. So they were designed to be easier for the right handed folks. As for top hats and such, there used to be different levels of dress, from casual, to business, black tie, white tie, and court dress. So it was understood by everyone what kind of business you were on, how professional you were, or how wealthy. "
He noticed the look of annoyance on her. "But ah, hardly anyone could tell you any of that anymore. " he added. "Almost certainly no one under thirty. And no one would ever call you out on it, even back then"

As averse as she was to the idea of somebody limiting what one could or could not wear, curiosity won out, and she listened attentively to Risiko talking about the subject in which he was clearly knowledgeable. It was interesting, and while it still seemed silly, she now could see that the rules had fairly good grounding and reasons. Giving a thoughtful hum, Audi folded her hands in her lap, then decided to ask the most obvious question.

"How do you know about this, then?"

Was he older than he seemed, or...?

Risiko shrugged. "I read a lot. That and I adore old films. At any rate" He finished and did a little two-step hop towards the racks. He moved his arm outwards in the same motion "We've found something for me. Now we should look for something for you!"

Audi frowned slightly, having expected - or hoped for - an answer slightly less mundane than that. Oh well. The thought didn't linger on her mind, as his weird antics had her letting out something between an amused hiss and a breathy giggle. She glanced down to her attire. Well, she had dressed herself... now, and always. The idea of having somebody else choose was kinda exciting, really. Happily, she nodded, and bounded over to the racks. "Okay!" Stopping beside them, she struck a pose, one arm casually falling by her side as she tilted her head slightly, resting the other hand on a jutted out hip, as if modeling would make it easier for Risiko to pick the clothing.

Risiko smiled at her frown. "Terribly boring, I know. Now, let's see about what we have" he said. He did all but sashay to the racks, taking a look back to see Audi posing. Risiko started going through the rack, wishing that he knew about matching colors better than he did. Fur was only going to complicate things.
"What kind of outfit are you looking for?" he asked, pulling a few hangers here and there and putting them on the end. Potentials.

She felt a little bad for how her easy unfavorable opinion was to read, but it was quick to pass as the present situation was much more interesting. With how excited she was, keeping still and posing had proven to be impossible, and Audi started bouncing up and down on her toes as she watched Risiko with eyes open wide. The movement was paused briefly as she pondered over the question, then restarted as she gave a light shrug.
"Dunno." She wasn't even sure what were the options, really. "Casual...?"

"Hmm.. casual..." Risiko murmured as he sorted through the hangers. His eyes went wide as he saw a long length of orange red and patterned cloth. "
Well, I wouldn't have expected to find this!" he noted as he pulled it out of the rack and held it up. Holding it in front of his face, it reached the floor, folded into three layers. It was very wide, almost four feet, and made of an orange-red silk. It was bordered, almost like a rug, as a line of intricate shapes and patterns ran all along the edge.
Looking out from around it, Risiko asked "well, what do you think? It'd go well with what you're wearing now, and I think the colour would match your, ah, fur."

Audi gasped a little at his comment, although when he pulled out the dress she didn't see what was so unexpected about it. It sure was pretty, though. Eagerly, she ran up to Risiko and grabbed the skirt, pinching the fabric between two fingers to get a feel for it. A thoughtful hum escaped her as she considered his choice.
"Well..." she finally said hesitantly, glancing to how the dress reached down to the ground, and then to her own unimpressive stature. "It's lovely. But might be too big." She looked up to Risiko apologetically, but with an amused flicker in her eyes. "Hardly casual if I can't move in it."

"No, I'm sure it will fit" Risiko said as he laid out the whole thing. An eighteen by four rectangle of silk was lying on the floor. Risiko measured it by his feet, tracing two edges of it. He then looked over at Audi.
"Hm... might be a bit big... do you know how to wear a sari?" he asked. By her reaction, she didn't know what it was.

As impressed as she was with the guy's knowledge of clothes, she couldn't help the feeling of disappointment at him misjudging her size. It wasn't often that it caused problems, really, she had no complexes about it. She had found that being small was helpful more often than not. However, when it came to wearing clothing made for humans... With a slight unhappy pout, she nudged the edge of the dress with her foot as it was laid down on the ground. Such a shame. It was so pretty...
At the question, Audi's gaze took to staring at Risiko questioningly, then she shook her head. There was quite a lot that she didn't know, it seemed. At the moment, it felt rather discouraging.