Sarah Connor is cursed to be ever vigilant (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ever_vigilant) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2012-07-28 23:05:00 |
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Who: Neena, Xi'an, Kitty, some Moira and Rahne at the end.
What: Wedding shopping, which goes Pear Shaped.
When: Today!
Where: Mall, Bridal Shop
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13 for 'fancy knickers', girl kissing, and nosebleeds.
Status: Complete!
Kitty was driving, since she knew where Neena lived. Leaving had been pretty easy, and she was grateful for Illyana. She'd have to treat her to dinner or something and really soon. The situation was weird enough, but she had an amused smirk on her face.
Xi'an raised an eyebrow at the smirk. "So. Sexy underwear and dress shopping are on the docket today." This should be interesting, at least.
Back at the Wisdom residence, Dom was waiting outside, leaning heavily against the front door. Pete had fussed over her for the last 20 minutes, and she was grateful that he cared, but she'd decided that waiting outside was best. Before Pete started fussing more, in Kitty's presence.
When the car pulled up she made her way over at a casual pace, and crawled into the back seat, "Good Afternoon, Intrepid Adventurers!"
Kitty blushed a bit at the thought, "Well I'd picked up some things last Friday but I don't know what happened to all that, after everything that happened." She patted Xi'an's leg, then squeezed.
She shifted, glancing back at Neena, "You look paler than usual. Did you know Pete sent me a list of things?" She showed her the text messages, grinning.
"Damn, that blush I applied isn't even doing anything for me, is it?" Dom quipped, then took a look at the text messages, and nodded her head, "He showed them to me already, yes. I of course wished he hadn't given you a list like that. It's going to be fine. We're going to have fun. Awkward fun, with your friend who I have not actually met yet."
She held her hand out to Xi'an, "Neena. Nice to meet you in these extremely awkward yet upbeat circumstances."
Kitty grinned a bit, "I'll make sure you don't knock your head around."
Xi'an chuckled and shook Nina's hand. "Xi'an. And it's nice to meet you, too." She didn't really want to comment on the 'awkward' part, since she wasn't completely in-the-know and was just as content to let Neena and Kitty be the only two who had to deal with Pete.
Dom smiled and leaned back in the seat, then buckled up. "Pleasure to meet you, too. To the mall! ... Can we stop for coffee on the way? I've been tea-d to death this morning but it's just not the same. I'll buy, you ladies deserve a treat for doing this for me."
"Bribing us now? You're evil and down low!" Kitty pulled out. They made a stop at a drive-through coffee place, and then were on their way to the mall. After a moment, Kitty quipped, "I promised Pete I'd leer at you."
"Oh you did?" Dom arched a brow at that, and grinned, "I'm sure he thought that was a great idea. I'm not sure how Xi'an would feel about that, though. She looks very capable and is right here in this car with us, so I'm hoping she doesn't hurt either of us now."
Xi'an chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. It's just joking, and I know it. And thanks for the coffee." She took a long sip once hers had cooled enough to drink. "Good stuff. The caffeine will help with the shopping energy."
"Timing on all this works out. We've got a flight late Monday," Kitty said, ignoring the talk. She'd been joking, of course. The leering would be mostly directed at Xi'an, though she was glad the woman could handle a little joking around. The mall wasn't much farther, but it would still be a few minutes. "
In the back seat, Dom was clutching onto her cup of coffee like it was some kind of sacred shrine, within which was her life force. She nodded emphatically at Xi'an, because shopping energy was very necessary, and caffeine was great for that. She loved caffeine. It was her best friend.
She took a long sip, then tilted her head to the side, "Oh right, the Olympics? Your two little asian friends. Lee and ... Lee."
Kitty grinned as she pulled into the parking lot, "Yeah, Jubilee and Ty Lee. No relation."
"You have to admit it'd be pretty amazing if there was. I can see the newspapers eating up that inspirational story." Dom pointed at Kitty with most of her hand still on her coffee cup, and grinned.
Xi'an nodded. "Half the audience will probably be wondering about it, yeah. I hope they both do well and have a great time while they're there."
"I still think we should drug the twins so they're asleep the whole flight," Kitty quipped. She was looking forward to this. She hadn't been in London in years and she wanted to scream her lungs off for Jubilee.
Parked now, Kitty shut the car off, "Okay old lady, do you think you can walk?"
"No, I thought you two might carry me around the Mall." Dom smirked. She crawled her way out the car, shaking her head. She'd spent most of the car ride conserving her energy and honestly felt pretty up to this, "That man needs to stop fretting. I'm going to smack him."
Xi'an eased out of the car and sipped her coffee. "If at anytime you do need to take a break and rest, don't hesitate to let us know," she said. "We've got the whole day, basically, so don't push yourself just because of us."
Kitty slipped around the car and put her arm around Xi'an, squeezing lightly before letting go, "So lets get the embarrassing part over with first, okay?" It had been less embarrassing with Mai, but then again this was her girlfriend and Pete's woman. That automagically made things more embarrassing.
Still clutching onto her coffee cup, Dom shut her car door and looked at the Mall. It seemed kind of daunting in its size now that they were there, but she was determined to forge ahead.
She gave both Kitty and Xi'an a smile, "I just want to have a normal day. I mean, despite whatever he lead you to believe, I'm not an invalid. I'm going through some rough spots with some migraines, but I'm going to enjoy today. Even if it's so embarrassing that we all end up blushing scarlet. So let's go do that, okay?"
Xi'an took Kitty's hand and gave it a squeeze. "At least this should be sort of fun. Even if there's mild embarassment and blushing involved," she said. It had been a while since she'd been clothes shopping without the twins, so she was definitely going to enjoy grown-up shopping time.
Kitty thought that Neena would have a hard time hiding any blushes right now. She nodded her head, and then led the way into the mall, still holding Xi'an's hand. She naturally was a faster walker, but between the lady in the prothestic and the ill woman, she had to slow her pace to what felt like a crawl.
This was going to be a long day.
The ill lady didn't even know that the other lady was wearing a prosthetic, actually. Or if it'd come up, she barely remembered. It didn't seem to define Xi'an, who held herself with a certain classy grace that Dom found herself slightly envious of.
The walk through the mall to the Vicky's Secrets was taken with a sort of carefree and casual air, with lots of stops to lean against windows and do some window shopping, or point out things that seemed to be of interest. She was particularly distracted by a stand selling sparkly hairpins and things.
Xi'an noticed the interest in the hair pins and made a mental note of it as they approached Victoria's Secret. Now that was a store she had definitely not been in in a while.
"So...sexy underwear. What color palette are we working with first, and will you also be looking for sexy 'sleep' wear?"
Somehow, Domino distracted by sparkly hairpins and things was the funniest thing Kitty had ever seen, but she managed to keep it to a snicker. She started towards the shop, trying to hide the blush on her face at Xi'an's comments. And where her mind went with them. She thought Xi'an would look better in warmer colors.
She choked out a, "You're better at this than either of us Xi'an, what do you think?"
It was pretty hysterical, when you thought of exactly who Domino was and the kind of people she consorted with on a daily basis. It was hard to imagine a hardened mercenary/CIA operative walking around in sparkly ... anything at all... really.
She glanced at Xi'an and added, "I uhm ... am not really good at this. I have very few pairs of underwear. But he does seem to like things black and lacy, and honestly the idea of 'fancy knickers' was entirely his. I assume we need ... you know. The type you wear just so someone can take it off you."
She was very much blushing at that statement.
Xi'an nodded. "You really can't go wrong with black for things like this. It's classic and classy as well as sexy."
So...black and lacey. She glanced around the store for a moment before leading them over to an area that looked promising.
The blush was growing brighter on Kitty's face as they walked in. Everything she saw she saw in her mind's eye on Xi'an and ..well if Neena wasn't there the changing room would be occupied by two warm bodies right about now.
She was in fact looking in that direction almost forlornly, as she followed the two of them.
Three women of various age, walking around a lingerie shop, blushing furiously. The women behind the counter were probably giving eachother looks over how adorable that was. For Dom's part, she was mostly trying to find something that wasn't too ... ostentatious. It didnt need to be overly flashy or overly promiscuous.
Her eye finally caught a display right near Xi'an, and she reached out a finger to check how soft the fabric was.
Xi'an raised her eyebrows slightly as she noticed what Dom stopped to look at. "That would definitely get his attention." It would get most anyone's attention, really.
"Wow..." Kitty stared at that, then her eye fell on another number. She prefered white or pink on herself, but she really liked that in general.
"God I love this place."
"That's pretty much the point, I guess. I thought I had his attention on my own, but sometimes they like things fancier," Dom mumbled, while still rubbing at the lacy fabric on the first number. The thing Kitty was looking at also caught her eye, and she tilted her head. The only way to really know was probably to try the things on. She started fishing through the rack for her size.
Xi'an glanced at what Kitty was looking at and took a deep breath. Kitty would look...more than amazing in that. And that was a fairly distracting thought.
"They do. Hell I do," Kitty admitted, glancing at Xi'an in particular. "Both the wearing and the watching."
She hoped the wedding dress part would be easier. She rather hoped she didn't run out of the store and hide, "I think you just need one of these. I'd say this style of panties." She held them up.
Dom draped the thing she'd been looking at over her arm, then reached out a hand for the panties, and checked the size on them. Lucky her, they were precisely the right ones.
She looked between Xi'an and Kitty, and smiled a bit, "I'm going to try this on, why don't you two take a while to get yourselves some nice things." She'd probably sit in the dressing room for a few minutes, too. It'd give them plenty of time to be in a lingerie store without her hovering around as a third wheel.
Kitty glanced at Xi'an, "You know some day Nga will be coming into a place like this. When she's thirty."
She picked up a white babydoll amd brought it over to Xi'an, holding it up, "You or me?"
Xi'an smiled at Neena. "Okay. We'll...be around somewhere, if you need anything."
She flipped through the things on the racks. She glanced over at what Kitty held up and tilted her head slightly. "...you, I think..." And yeah. Nga was not allowed to shop here until she moved out so Xi'an wouldn't know about it.
Over to the dressing room Dom went, stopping at one point to do a balance check that she disguised by looking at some panties that were on a display. She selected out a few pairs while she was at it, then went to try on her 'fancy knickers', as they were. There was at least a minute of her staring at herself in the mirror. Because wow.
"Okay." Kitty put that on her arm, eventually picking out a bustier for Xi'an.
She didn't really need any underwear even, if most of hers were faily boring. Then it was just a matter of waiting on Neena so they could check out.
The twins were definitely going to be allowed to sleep over at friends' houses in the near future, Xi'an decided. Illyana and Clarice would probably be pleased with that, too, but mainly she was thinking about herself and Kitty.
Kitty pulled Xi'an against her and kissed her.
It'd been a few minutes of sitting on that little bench in the fitting room, resting her head against the wall, which was nice and cool. Dom thought she was well prepared to continue with the shopping trip after that, and headed out, holding up her purchases with a grin, "I think I'm ready to go. ... But don't let me stop you from smooching eachother."
Xi'an returned the kiss, but didn't let it go on for too long. They did have shopping to do, after all.
She smiled sheepishly at Neena. "I think we're ready to move on, too," she said.
Blushing, Kitty pulled away, "Yeah, ready when you are."
She looked at Neena, eyes squinting a bit, "Lets eat. That way we won't risk hurting the dress."
And she thought the older woman needed more of a break.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're implying about any dresses getting hurt, here," Dom squinted at Kitty, then held out a credit card to the lady at the counter and had her ring everything up. If something Kitty or Xi'an had wanted was in that pile, then she was paying for it. She had few enough ways to show her appreciation to them.
"Do you want to get food on your wedding dress?" Kitty started to object to her paying for everything, but then gave up. She knew she wouldn't win that argument. So she just took Xi'an's hand and walked with them out of the shop.
Then she marched all their butts to the food court.
"I'm very good at eating without ever dropping food on my clothing," Dom quipped, and allowed herself to get marched to the food court. She glanced at Xi'an as Kitty marched them, as if to say 'she's always like this isn't she, and you put up with her because you love her, don't you'.
Xi'an chuckled as they marched to the food court. "There's not much risk of food getting on the dress--you buy it, they bag it on the hanger and you're good to go." She smiled at Neena like, 'yeah, she kinda is' before turning her attention to the food court's offerings.
It seemed like no time passed at all, by the time they were done eating. Kitty did manage to wrangle a picture of all of them licking ice cream cones to taunt Pete with, but eventually they were on their way to the dress shop. Every step towards it made Kitty feel like she wanted to turn around and run the other way. But then they were inside, and there was no escape.
There'd been times in Dom's life where she'd have had the same reaction to walking into a place like this, honestly. It was actually kind of funny how easily she adapted to the commitment idea when she didn't have a lot of time to think about it. There'd been so many reasons to do this now, that there was no room for doubt.
Energized by food and the car trip, she headed for the door with more of a bounce in her step. The place was elegant and classy and seemed genuinely friendly instead of intimidating. She waved at the lady at the counter and mentioned she had an appointment. A well dressed woman soon came over to them and shook their hands. They were lead through the dress selections while the lady made some suggestions and asked Dom some questions about what kind of wedding she had planned. Dom felt completely out of her element, "Something ... small and intimate, mainly."
Xi'an took Kitty's hand and gave it a squeeze, hoping that would help calm whatever jitters Kitty might have about being in a place that sold wedding dresses.
Kitty thought her mom would drag her to a place like this. Not ever going to happen now, but that was okay. She swallowed, and inspected some of the dresses, unsure of what to really look for except 'well this looks cute'.
Somehow she thought 'cute' wasn't what they really were looking for. Elegant maybe? She looked at Xi'an for help.
Meanwhile, someone started taking measurements of Dom.
Dom had, in fact, been herded off for measurements. The lady talked animatedly about different dress types and the types of things she'd need to wear under them. Dom mentioned she was looking for something not quite white but something in an ivory or champagne. The lady seemed to agree with her - even to people who couldn't see her for what she was, Dom looked a bit too pale to pull something completely white.
Eventually she made herself take a rest in a chair, while the woman went back to round up dresses. She approached Kitty and Xi'an, "I think for the type of thing we're looking for we probably don't want anything too fluffy or ornate. I've got a few things in mind for your friend, but you two should pull out some things, too."
Kitty pulled out three, mostly at random.
Xi'an glanced over the dresses Kitty selected, then at Neena. She held up one of those and said, "I think something like this. It's elegant and sophisticated, but also not over-the-top."
The woman looked over the selections and nodded her head here and there, "Yes, yes, very good selections, both of you."
She gently took the 4 dresses, along with two she'd picked out herself, and headed over to the dressing room that Neena was currently sitting in front of. She made busy unzipping things and getting them situated, then went to go get underpinnings to go with them, "You all make yourselves comfortable, I'll be right back."
Kitty wondered what sort of dress would suit her. Then mentally slapped herself at the idea, and took a seat, "You've got a good eye, hon."
Dom, meanwhile, was trying to find a casual way to rub at her head here and there. The normal headache she had on a daily basis had decided to transform into the type where men drove little spikes into her head. Not good, but she definitely didn't want to stop now.
She was flipping through a catalogue that had things like shoes and bridal accessories she might want to pick out to go with the dress. She was slightly glad that money wasn't really an object for her, "I take it you two picked out some pretty things for me to wear?"
"Yeah. I think you'll like them. Probably her picks better than mine," Kitty said, jerking a thumb at Xi'an, before resting a hand on her leg.
Forcing a smile, Dom tucked some hair behind her ear and looked at Xi'an, "I'm glad she brought you along, for the record. You've got really good taste."
Xi'an smiled at Neena and placed a hand over Kitty's. "Thank you. I'm glad I was able to come along. And that I was able to be helpful."
The woman returned with various undergarments and held them up, "Alright, now we're ready to turn you into a princess!" She took Neena's hand in hers and dragged her into the nearby dressing room.
She barely had enough time to flash either of them a nervous smile before she was dragged, catalogue and all, into the fire. So to speak. Behind the closed door, there was lots of muffled talking and zipping and rustling.
Kitty glanced at Xi'an, "Princess Neena. That's...that's wrong on so many levels!"
She laughed, and took Xi'an's hand, "Did you ever think about a wedding when you were little? Or were you already pretty sure you liked girls?"
Xi'an tilted her head for a moment. "I don't really think I thought much about it, but I don't think it was because I knew I liked girls, neccesarily. My parents were more interested in encouraging us to be able to support ourselves than they were on encouraging us to settle down."
Kitty nodded her head, "My mom filled me with all these visions of gigantic weddings. She was so disappointed when I broke off the engagement with Wisdom. Even if she thought he was abrasive, she just wanted her day." Her day, not Kitty's. Hah!
There'd been about 5 seconds for Dom to page through the dresses on various hangers before the first one Kitty'd picked out was pulled over her head and zipped up. The woman thought it was a bit too big on her and fit too awkwardly to alter, and she pulled on the second one. A bit happier with it, she stepped outside so Kitty and Xi'an could take a look.
"Go on, have a bit of a spin in the mirrors!" The woman encouraged her.
Dom gave her an almost pained look and closed her eyes before taking a very slow spin. She wasn't sure she liked the way the dress felt on her.
Kitty watched her spin, and shook her head a little. There was something off about it. It didn't really fit right and it didn't really seem to be..Neena. She glanced at Xi'an.
"Not that one," Xi'an said. "Just...doesn't look like you."
"You guys are pretty good at this," Dom breathed. The woman hovering nearby clucked her tongue and nodded, "You brought along friends with a great eye. I agree, that doesn't seem like your fabric."
She shooed Dom back into the dressing room, where Susie sat on a bench, waiting for her. That was ... unexpected, though at this point it really shouldn't have been, she supposed. She tried not to draw attention to herself and the ghost-child that the woman wouldn't see there, as she took the current bridal gown off. Susie merely tugged on her arm, and pointed up at her head.
I know, I know, my head is going to explode. It's okay. Stop pointing already.
She drew her attention back to the woman, who was hanging up the dress she'd just tried on. She skipped past the third offering, and went straight to the one that Xi'an had picked out.
"This one, I think," The woman said, and pulled it over her head.
Dom took a look at it in the small mirror in front of her as the woman zipped it up. It was pretty much like the entire world fell into place, and her breath caught in her throat.
She decided, though, that the other two should see it first, before she made the final call on it. The migraine was getting to the point where she estimated she'd start seeing little sparks in her vision again, so time was probably of the essence. She wasted no time in stepping out of the dressing room, one hand bracing against the doorframe.
"Don't know which one of you picked this one out, but..."
Kitty gasped out loud, staring. That was....that was perfect!
Xi'an beamed. "You look amazing," she said.
The grin on Dom's face in response was wide and glowing. She didn't even want to try on the other dresses, because this one was perfect.
It was in the process of taking one last look at herself in the big mirrors - on the attendant's insistence - that the nosebleed started. Dom could feel it starting to trickle out of her nose, and casually put a hand up to face, but the hand never got there. Because what followed immediately afterward was an almost nauseating pain in the back of her skull. It ripped through her head and rippled down her spine, and she barely had time to get out more than a cursory exclamation before she spun down into inky blackness.
The attendant's first thought was to pull some tissues out of her pocket for the nosebleed, before blood got on the dress. Priorities!
It actually brought some tears to Kitty's eyes. That dress was perfect, and like she'd told Tali - you want the one that makes you cry.
Then Kitty was leaping to her feet, trying to catch Neena before her head landing on anything. She checked for a pulse, "Neena? Can you hear me?!"
"Does your friend have some kind of condition?" The attendant started fanning the bride's face. It wasn't, honestly, the first time anyone had fainted in their bridal boutique.
"She's been ill," Kitty said. "But no condition I'm aware of." Automatically, she was checking for a pulse, and relieved she found one.
"She's uh..phobic of hospitals, but we have a contact." Kitty pulled her phone out, "Xi'an, can you dial Moira. Should be in my contact list. She's the doctor I told you about."
More tissues were applied to the nose, and the attendant slapped Dom's cheek gently, "This isn't the first time we've had a bride faint over the right dress, but you probably do need to call someone. We have smelling salts stashed around here somewhere, but in this case I'm not sure we should try them."
Xi'an nodded and took Kitty's phone. She found Moira's number and dialed. "What should I tell her when she picks up, other than Neena fainted with a nose bleed?"
"That should be enough," Kitty said.
A moment later, Moira answered, "Hello? What can I do for ye, Kitty?"
"Hi, this is Xi'an, Kitty's girlfriend," she said. "We've been out shopping with Neena, and she just had a nosebleed start and then she fainted."
"Och!" Moira sat up stock straight, "Okay, we need tae get her tae Irvine General. In the back. If yuir in public it won't be easy tae get her tae ye car but let me see if me bairn is near enough tae pick ye up. She's an EMT."
"Okay, thanks," Xi'an said.
Moira dialed Rahne, who she thought was on duty, "Rahney? I've got a special emergency for ye tae help with, if yuir nae already on a call."
Over on the floor, Dom was trying to sort through the pain and pea soup in her head enough to say something. Anything. Or even weakly point at her head, like as if to indicate something was there or seemed to be ... whatever it was, the pain was unbearable. Her hand twitched, but that was about it.
The attendant, meanwhile, was trying to decide what to do about the dress Neena was still wearing. It was one of the last ones in that size in stock. "We should get her out of this if we can."
"We're not busy at the moment, no," Rahne said, gesturing for her partner that they were about to head out. "What d'ye need?"
"A friend fainted while out shoppin'. She's.. a special case I take care of an' she needs transport tae me lab at the hospital. She's with Kitty an' her girl."
"Och. I'll be right on it. What's the address?" Rahne got out a pad of paper to write it on.
Moira gave her the address, then started getting ready. Really, Dom and Pete had been wonderful for her research budget.
Rahne and her partner hopped in the ambulance and headed over.
Meanwhile, the attendant had carefully extracted the dress from Dom, and taken a thermal blanket out of their emergency kit to lay over her. The dress was packed up in a bag, which she put aside for the woman to pick up later. When she wasn't passed out on the floor.
Kitty gathered up Neena's earlier purchases. She glanced at Xi'an, "I'll call Pete once she's on her way to the hospital. I'd rather she arrive before he did." Because she was pretty certain Wisdom would arrive five minutes before Neena did if she called him right now.
And she wanted Moira to have her fixed up before he actually got there, for his sake.
Xi'an tucked the blanket around Dom. And watched for the ambulance. Which arrived shortly.
Rahne and her partner hopped out and came in, asking Kitty and Xi'an what they knew.
Kitty explained what had happened, and gave the symptions Pete had described and that she'd witnessed, "She'd seemed very good, holding up. We made sure she was resting and that she ate."
"Well, Mum'll probably run tests," Rahne said. "She'll figure something out, I'm sure."
"Thanks Rahney. I need to call her fiance and get Xi'an home." Kitty squeezed Neena's shoulder.
The woman couldn't really do anything in response, but she'd be very grateful to the both of them later.
To all three of them, really. And four, if you included the attendant.
Kitty whipped out her phone, after Neena was taken away, "Can you drive?"
XI'an nodded. "I'll drive, you attempt damage control with Pete." And thus she drove them home.