A Shopping Center, Portland, Maine, Wednesday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

After getting out of work in mid-afternoon, Kathy caught a portal up to Portland for the evening. A random text conversation about her wardrobe had led to Ezra pointing out that he was the best shopping partner ever. Considering his fashion sense--especially compared to the fashion senses of damn near everyone else she was friends with--she couldn't really argue with that, so they'd agreed to meet up in Portland for a bit of an impromptu shopping adventure.

Kathy hadn't expected the address he'd given her to be a small huddle of exclusive boutiques and restaurants in the downtown, but knowing Ez, she really probably should have.

"It's a good thing I pay off my credit card every month," Kathy said, looking at the price tag on an elegant sweater that would look amazing on Dante if she could ever convince him to wear such a thing. "I have a feeling I'm going to need every cent of it to afford a spree in this place."

[NFB and for the guy mentioned!]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

Yeah, but...he'd chosen it for her. It would be the easiest to steal, absolutely, but...

He'd chosen it. For her. And rather than sneak it out like it never existed, she wanted to make the commitment to paying for it, to trusting him enough to lay out serious cash for it.

Kathy was weird, news at 11.

"You know, I've dressed up on a lot of sexy things before, courtesy of Dite's if nothing else, and I still never thought I could look like this," she murmured.

[smilestopscars]

Yes, Ezra had chosen it for her. But that's why he'd also considered just taking it for her - because it was special. Because it could've been a gift.

But he wasn't going to argue.

It was dumb enough that he'd chosen the hottest possible outfit for her that he didn't feel like he had the right to actually enjoy in any way.

He snorted, softly. "That's because you still have far too little faith, darling."

[spin_kick_snap]

The original terms were that she'd buy it, no hesitation, no questions asked.

...Though if he mentioned it, she'd retort there were plenty of other pretty things around he could give her as a present anyway.

"True enough," she murmured, turning to look at him again. She'd change back in a moment. "Now what about you? All these nice, expensive clothes--there has to be something in here that catches your eye."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra shrugged a shoulder. "Well, a person can never have too many shirts," he said. "But no, I haven't really seen anything to catch my interest."

He'd been much more focused on the ladies' side of things.

[spin_kick_snap]

"We should look for something for you, too," Kathy said, bouncing on her toes. "So I'm not the only one putting on a fashion show."

[smilestopscars]

"Darling, I'm a fashion show wherever I go, regardless of if the things are new or not," Ezra pointed out, mock indignant. "But fine. If you're so insistent, you may try and find something for me."

What? He'd already put in the effort in finding something for her. You could only demand so much lack of lazyness from him.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Me?"

Don't look like he just asked you to perform open heart surgery here, Kathy, jeez.

"I...um, okay," she said, going over what she knew of Ezra's style. Tailored, fashionable, sexy. Surely she could find a couple of things like that. "But I'm not going to try to find something that you wouldn't otherwise wear. I don't think I can surprise you with something that looks good that you didn't already know about."

[smilestopscars]

"Anything I would wear is good," Ezra assured her. "It takes a lot to surprise me."

As she'd already figured out.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Still, I'm going to play it safe," she said, heading back into the room to change. "Rather you think I have decent taste than try to surprise you and end up with something awful."

Once she'd changed back into her own clothing (carefully placing the things she had tried on back onto their hangers because she wasn't a goddamned barbarian), she set them aside to buy and wandered out to the men's side of things. The first thing she found was a black and red vest for Dante that he'd probably wear as a shirt if she ever worked up the courage to give it to him, but then she was in the realm of shirts and suits and it was much more Ezra's style.

She snagged a suit jacket that she thought he might like the color of and then another also more expensive shirt. Not to wear together, of course, but the color was bold and the cut flattering, so she thought it might work for him. There were one or two other things she thought might suit, but those were the two that she felt best about suggesting.