"I knew that." Cathy grinned, still apologetic, but she did her best to brush it aside. "I was just testing you." For the most part, Cathy had done an admirable job of keeping the names and faces of her various acquaintances straight--something that didn't come particularly naturally to her, as was evidenced by this encounter.
She had almost forgotten her surroundings. Vi's comment reminded her of the reason she was standing in the fitting room to begin with, and she turned her attention to an unoccupied three-way mirror, scrutinizing her appearance. "Thank you," she returned with a smile, turning sideways and tilting her head. "Do you think--...I mean, it's kind of short, which is okay because it's LA and it hasn't been really cold, but, I mean, does it go over the line to being--..."
Looking both ways to scan the area for mothers shopping with small children, she dropped her voice. "...slutty?"
A science, indeed.
She grinned, returning the handshaking and appreciating the question in the Slayer's voice, even if it was only to make her feel less stupid. "That's me. It's good to see you again." Giving her a nod, she continued without missing a beat, gesturing up and down over the other woman to indicate her outfit. "And that really does look great on you, too. Those jeans have a great fit."
Which was, of course, the polite way of saying "they make your ass look fantastic"--something she would have had no qualms about informing Sarah or Faith or any of her other close female friends of--but for the sake of not scaring her new acquaintance away, she didn't elaborate.