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!]

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[spin_kick_snap]

Still more of that steady eye contact; not at all a challenge, but a far cry from the girl who got flustered if she looked him in the eyes for too long. "Should if I try it on first, or am I buying it sight unseen?" she asked him, not doubting that he'd get the sizing right, too.

Even if it had been years since Ezra had gotten his hands on her body, she figured he knew well enough how to size a woman by eye-sight alone.

[smilestopscars]

That was the kind of skill that came in part with a habit of stealing things not just for himself but for others as well.

Still, he shrugged. He kept looking at her. "Your choice."

[spin_kick_snap]

"What's the point of picking something out for me and then not getting to see my reaction to it?" she asked, sliding past him to take a seat on the couch.

Oh. Oh it was comfortable. Hnngh. Stupid couch.

"Bring it back here and I'll try it on."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra didn't answer. He gave hern exaggerated bow, and slipped away into the store proper.

He wasn't gone for too long. He had a clear vision, so all it took was actually finding something that fit what he was after. And once he did, he checked out a couple of options but no, there was a clear winner.

He came back with a much pricier than this link black jumpsuit folded over one arm. Not that it was easy to tell what it was. It was meant to be form-hugging, so it looked a little shapeless, just hanging there. But he'd seen it on one of the mannequins, and it seemed like something that'd look amazing on her, and like something she wouldn't maybe pick for herself. A clingy, sleek thing with a black bottom half and a sleeveless mesh upper body with a plunging V neck and embroidered flowers over the breasts.

Yes, he figured she'd look sensational.

He also figured this was a spectacularly bad move on his part.

But he held it out for her all the same. "Here we go, dumpling."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's expression went on a journey of emotions as she saw what he was offering her. At first, it seemed like it was just a shapeless bit of fabric and she was entirely uncertain of why he'd choose it. And then he held it out and it all became clear--that wasn't a neckline so much as a neck chasm, plunging all the way down to the waistline. Which was high for a waist, but not high enough to do anything but show off a generous portion of each breast.

Her face slid from dubious to questioning to resolved as she reached out for it, surprised by the weight of the jumpsuit when it was finally in her hand. There was some structure to it after all, apparently. And then with one last lingering look at Ez, she went back into the changing room to try it on.

"...Holy shit," came her eventual response, floating out over the modesty curtain.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra wanted to see.

Ezra didn't want to see.

He settled on sing-songing, "I'm always riii-ight, darling."

[spin_kick_snap]

Well, he was going to see if whether he wanted to or not. There was the telltale shutterclick of a selfie being taken and then the curtain started to rattle as Kathy pushed it aside. She probably should have tried for some kind of vamp pose, but she was still a little too shell-shocked to think of that.

"I, umm, I. Wow, okay."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra tried to brace himself.

It didn't really work. He didn't need her to pose. Judging by the way his gaze traveled up her body slowly like he was eating her up with his eyes alone, just her body in the jumpsuit was enough. The way it clung to her thighs, her hips, her sides; the way it split her chest into three sections, two covered and one deliciously not...

For a while, he wasn't actually hiding what he was thinking about her, right at that moment. He was just glad his body wasn't reacting too obviously. (But let it still be known that he did feel some small bit of something in his nether regions. But how could he not?)

He tried to wipe that off his face once his gaze finally slid up to hers. "Told you."

[spin_kick_snap]

It gave her almost enough time to throttle down a desire to just grab him and drag him back into the dressing room with her, which was appreciated. She wanted his tongue to follow a path up that bare patch of skin on her chest and then his teeth to sink down onto her shoulder in a bite that walked the line of almost too painful--

When he finally looked up at her and her her eyes, he'd find her gaze hot. Open. Hungry. She held them for a long second as he spoke.

And then she closed them, let out a deep breath, and when they opened again, she was able to feign casual, at least. "So you did," she said, gaze skittering to the mirror rather than make contact with him again. She walked over to it, once again checking the outfit from every angle--including, yeah, a quick peek at how it clung to her ass.

"I really should stop doubting."

[smilestopscars]

Well that look was simply unfair. Ezra hadn't seen that kind of look from her since... well, in a long while, and it did things to him that he really wished it hadn't because he knew he couldn't do anything about them.

He inhaled deep through his nose, quietly, as he watched her take herself in from all angles.

"Yes, you should."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I kinda thought I wouldn't be busty enough to fill this out," she said, mostly to herself while giving her chest a critical glance in the mirror. "But if I were built more like Isabela, I don't think this top would even be able to stay on."

And then she did post. Not for Ezra even, but just because--damn. She did look really good in this.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," she said and that was towards him.

[smilestopscars]

Now, Ezra was doing his level best to just look at her face. Someone might say he'd kind of screwed up in being so wonderfully good at picking something out for her. Because he definitely felt like he was paying for a mistake, right now.

He was coming off just a slight bit distracted. "Well, just don't do it again."

[spin_kick_snap]

"This one," she said, catching his eyes in the glass. "This one, doesn't get your discount."

They could discuss the other dresses she'd gotten and maybe a couple of the shirts she'd eyed across the store, but this she was paying full-price for.

[smilestopscars]

And here he'd thought exactly the opposite! For one, that thing would've been easy to make disappear somewhere in his clothes as if it had never existed separately of him at all.

Oh well.

"Your choice, dumpling," he said, again. Nodding.

[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.